


The Returned

by itsBudsey09



Series: SuperWolf: A Teen Wolf & Supernatural Fusion [2]
Category: Supernatural, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:13:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 49,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28677231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsBudsey09/pseuds/itsBudsey09
Summary: With all of his pack in town for the wedding of the century, Scott McCall thinks everything in his life is perfect. But when people start returning from the dead, including his old love, Allison Argent, things start to become a lot more hectic for the Alpha werewolf. Calling in their old friends Sam and Dean Winchester (plus some help from the French Men of Letters), the pack is in for more than they bargained for when they come face to face with their very own wicked witch. Who is the necromancer? Why are the dead rising in Beacon? Will they get to stay? Find out in 'The Returned,' an original fanfic by me, itsBudsey09!
Relationships: Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey, Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Chris Argent/Melissa McCall, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Ethan/Jackson Whittemore, Laura Hale/Tara Raeken, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Lydia Martin/Jordan Parrish
Series: SuperWolf: A Teen Wolf & Supernatural Fusion [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2101794
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note: This is PART 2 of my series. Read Part I: Lost in the Dark, available on my page now! This work also has far less chapters than the first but almost identical word count; hope y'all are ready for some longer chapters!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Teen Wolf and Supernatural universes. All characters are created and owned by Jeff Davis and Eric Kripke and I do not claim any ownership in them or the Teen Wolf/Supernatural worlds. The story I tell is my own invention and is not to be believed as any part of Teen Wolf or Supernatural canon. This story is for entertainment only and not part of the official story line. I will not be profiting from the creation or publication of this work. Big thanks to Mr. Davis and Mr. Kripke for their characters and the worlds they live in; without them, my story wouldn't exist. Enjoy!

Scott McCall was never a fan of weddings. Everyone had to get all dressed up, for some reason you’re supposed to bring a date, and Scott didn’t even have the physical ability to get drunk, which was arguably the best part of any wedding. As a werewolf, the amount of alcohol he would have to drink to get drunk would be asinine; he knew a few of his friends would be reaching that threshold tonight, though, especially with who was going to be paying. He was surprised he had even been invited to the wedding he was headed to, he thought to himself, as he struggled to tie his tie without making it crooked. He supposed if all of his friends had been invited, an invitation had fallen into his lap by way of pity. He didn’t even have a date. He had resorted to asking his mom, who had to say no because she knew one of her nurses was going to be vacation that weekend; they couldn’t afford for Melissa McCall to be gone, too. There wasn’t a word quite strong enough to describe the feeling of disappointment at being turned down by your own mother. He heard a single honk from outside and knew his ride was here. He grabbed his things and ran out the door, the familiar sight of a light blue Jeep sitting in his driveway. Stiles Stilinski had been his best friend since they were 8-years-old and even though over a decade had passed, things hadn’t really changed. The newest change was sitting in the passenger seat of the Jeep, Stiles’s boyfriend, Derek Hale. Well, Scott wasn’t really sure if you could call them ‘boyfriends.’ They hung out together constantly, kissed one another in public and generally did all of the things a couple does, but without confirmation from Derek, Scott wasn’t about to call them anything other than ‘good friends.’ Derek would kick his ass if he said the wrong phrasing and Scott really wasn’t looking for that. 

Stiles smiled as Scott walked toward the Jeep, waving frantically as if Scott wouldn’t see the vehicle parked in his own driveway. Derek got out of the Jeep, moving the passenger seat forward so Scott could get in the back and the three of them were on their way to the Beacon Hills Country Club. None of them had ever seen the inside of the country club before and started discussing what kind of lavish accommodations the wealthy of Beacon Hills would have. Derek was hoping for high shelf champagne; Stiles wanted gold toilets. Somehow Scott thought only one of those would be a reality. The Jeep loudly pulled into the parking lot, out of place next to the Porsches and BMWs. They relaxed when they spotted Theo Raeken’s beat-up truck, parked next to a squad car from the Beacon Hills Sherriff’s Department. The truck meant Theo and his boyfriend, Liam Dunbar, were already inside; the squad car meant Jordan Parrish and his girlfriend, Lydia Martin, were also there, hopefully with their new baby in tow. Scott may have hated weddings, but he loved babies. The four of them were all members of Scott’s pack: a were-coyote, Beta werewolf, Hellhound and banshee, respectively. Scott and Derek were also werewolves, Stiles being the only human in the pack but more important than any of the rest of them, at least in Scott’s eyes. 

The three of them sighed as they hopped out of the Jeep, taking the time to quickly smooth out any wrinkles in their suits and press down any stray hairs on their heads. A giant, golden sculpture stood at the front door, an ‘S’ and ‘W’ intertwined into one. A kid that Scott recognized as a member of the Beacon Hills lacrosse team stood next to it, his black tux a stark contrast to the glittering gold. He offered a program to each of the three boys and gestured towards another set of doors, these adorned with tiny, twinkling lights, roses hanging from the top of the door frame. A girl stood at the door, someone Scott didn’t recognize, wearing a floor length, red ball gown, her dark brown hair tied into a knot at the base of her skull. She asked for them all by name and quietly walked them to their assigned seats, which, thankfully were all next to each other. The rest of their friends were also close-by. Theo and Liam were seated in the row in front of them, the two huddled with their faces only centimeters from each other. Scott knew without even listening into their conversation that they were judging everything in the room, laughing amongst themselves at the extravagance of it all. Next to Scott sat Parrish, Lydia and their newborn baby, her long eyelashes resting over her cheeks as she slept peacefully. 

“How’s my favorite niece?” Scott cooed, running a single finger across her soft cheek. She didn’t have much in terms of hair, but he could tell it was going to be the same fiery red as her mother. Lydia had clearly taken the ‘black tie only’ dress code seriously, the baby in a silk, pink gown that Scott was sure had cost more than everything on his entire body. 

“Allison is doing great, but I swear if you wake her, her Uncle Scott will not be.” 

Scott took the hint and lifted his finger off of baby Allison, taking one last glance at her peaceful face before he turned back to Derek and Stiles. Derek had a look on his face like he had just taken a bite of something rotten, as he thumbed through the program that had been given to them at the front door. Scott looked down at it himself, flinching as he realized the cover was adorned with the faces of the two grooms with their names scrawled underneath. He was sure it was handwritten calligraphy and the portrait looked hand drawn as well. The rest of the program seemed fairly normal, although Scott did notice the words “dove release” at the end of the ceremony. The grooms would be walked down the aisle by their fathers, the sweet sounds of the Beacon Hills Children’s Choir filling the room as they did so. Scott did a double take. He couldn’t have read that correctly. But there it was, “Children’s Choir.” Only Jackson Whittemore would hire children to sing at his wedding. 

“Ay, nice digs, Whittemore!“ the booming voice from the door could only have been Bobby Finstock, who had coached lacrosse at Beacon Hills for the last seven years. Liam’s eyes went wide as he faced forward, silently hoping that Coach was going to sit anywhere else in the room besides near him, only to feel his heart drop as he heard the familiar “How’s it going, Dumbar?” Coach was great, really, but he didn’t exactly know what the term “inside voice” meant. Theo grabbed Liam’s hand and gave him a quick smile, the encouragement clearly helping Liam as he greeted Coach. Coach took his seat in the same row as the two of them. After only a few minutes, Liam could feel eyes on him and turned to see Coach staring. 

“Uh, Coach? Can I help you with something?” 

“I’m sorry. Forgive me, it’s just... I ship you two so much.” The smile across his face was almost maniacal. His laugh was dry and booming, but that was just Coach. 

Theo and Liam looked at each other, Theo shrugging as he shook his head. 

“Uh... you... ship us?” 

“Yeah, you know, when you ship someone. Like, uh... oh! Ross and Rachel from Friends! You know, shipping. Do you have a cute couple name, too? Leo? Thiam? Raebar? Dunken?” 

“I guess we’re just... Liam and Theo?” 

“I love it, I love it. Keep thinking though. Personally, I’m a fan of Raebar. Keep doing you, ya crazy kids.” 

“Well... thanks, I guess? We’ll, uh, get right on that.” 

“Ah, who doesn’t just love some good old-fashioned young love!” 

The room fell to a hush as the children’s choir walked in, each of them holding a candle as they took their place to the right of the alter. Scott really hoped it wasn’t a real candle, but noticed a few of the flames flickering as the kids whispered to each other. Again, only Jackson Whittemore. The choir director made his way to the front of the group and raised his hands, starting a rendition of an Elton John song that Scott couldn’t quite place. He heard the sound of footsteps and saw a small girl coming down the aisle, throwing rose petals with each step she took, careful to coat every square inch of the aisle in soft, red petals. The choir switched songs, humming an acapella version of the Wedding March, and Scott saw two more figures in the doorway. He hadn’t seen Ethan Steiner in years. Ethan was also a werewolf and had originally come to Beacon Hills with his identical twin brother, Aiden, to take down Derek, who had been the Alpha wolf at the time. After Aiden’s death, Ethan had taken off to England, helping out as many lost supernatural creatures as he could, where he met Jackson. As cliche as it was, the rest was history. Ethan had his arm interlocked with his father, a man with soft brown eyes and a smile that beamed over his face. The pair walked down the aisle, Mr. Steiner gripping both of Ethan’s hands in one last embrace before he sat down in the front row next to a woman that Scott assumed was his wife, Ethan’s mother. 

The room fell to a hush again, the only sounds being the tiny, soprano voices of the choir, as they all looked towards the door. Jackson’s tux was blinding. The black, silk tux was adorned in hundreds of thousands of crystals, which reflected back the candlelight throughout the room. Mr. Whittmore grimly walked his son down the aisle. He was very obviously less than thrilled about the marriage but still wanted to support his only son whole-heartedly. He shook Ethan’s hand before he placed Jackon’s into it, smiling sheepishly as he sat down next to his wife. A small door just behind the alter opened and Scott’s eyes went wide when he realized who was coming of it. Theo and Liam both whipped around in their seats, their expressions the same as they asked a million questions to Scott with just their eyes. Scott hadn’t seen Castiel since they had been in France almost a year ago. What he was doing at Ethan and Jackson’s wedding was beyond his comprehension. Castiel’s face was also cloaked in confusion. He muttered a quick “what am I doing here?” before Jackson cleared his throat loudly and pointed to the notecard that Castiel was holding. 

“Oh, right, ok. So, I just read this?” Jackson nodded violently as Ethan tried to keep his composure, his teeth biting down on his lips to stop from laughing. When Jackson suggested they had an angel officiate the wedding, Ethan thought he had been joking. He should have known better. Three months later, here they were, Castiel the angel standing at the front of the church in a raggedy trench coat, attempting to carry out the ceremony with the help of laminated notecards. 

“Uh, ok, so... we are gathered here today to join Jackson Allen Whittemore and Ethan Richard Steiner in holy matrimony. Good so far?” Castiel looked towards Jackson with approval, the groom growing more and more impatient with the angel. He ripped the cards from Castiel’s hands, throwing a fake smile to the crowd as he skimmed through and handed Cas a card from the middle of the stack. 

“And now: Ethan, do you take Jackson to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor and protect him forevermore—who says ‘forevermore’?” 

Ethan stifled a giggle before proclaiming ‘I do.’ 

“Jackson, do you take Ethan to be your husband? And all of that stuff about promises?” 

“I do!” Jackson shouted, his eyes wide as the tension in him continued to build. 

“Excellent. Are there rings? I thought there were supposed to be rings?” 

Jackson flipped to the next note card in Castiel’s hand while Ethan fished two rings out of his suit jacket. 

“Oh, ok! I just hadn’t gotten there yet. Ok, so, Ethan, place this ring on Jackson’s hand and repeat after me: With this ring, I thee wed.” 

“With this ring, I thee wed,” there were tears in Ethan’s eyes, although Scott wasn’t sure if it was from the emotions of getting to marry the love of his life or from trying to hold back laughter. Castiel grinned as Ethan slid the ring onto Jackson’s finger. 

“Ok! And, Jackson, same thing. Place the ring on Ethan’s hand and repeat: With this ring, I thee wed.” 

Through gritted teeth, Jackson slid the ring onto Ethan’s finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.” 

“Ok! So, the next part talks a lot about love and trust... do I really need to say all of this?” 

“Just, skip to the kissing part.” 

Castiel flipped a few more cards, letting the others fall slowly to the ground before he reached the last one. 

“Ah! And now, by the power vested in me by... God... it is my honor to declare you married. You may seal the declaration with a kiss.” 

Ethan grabbed Jackson by the front of his jacket and pulled him in, wiping the scowl off of his face with a kiss. The entire crowd burst into applause as the newlyweds joined hands and walked back down the aisle. As the couple disappeared, Scott saw both Liam and Theo collapse out of the corner of his eye and turned around in a panic. The two, however, were keeled over in laughter, Theo wiping tears from his eyes as Liam struggled to breathe. Stiles and Derek burst out laughing at this point as well, followed by a chuckle from Parrish. Lydia smiled but kept her laughter to herself, desperate to keep Allison sleeping. 

The girl in the red ballgown made her way down each row, explaining to everyone how to get to the reception hall and indicating that the bar was open; everyone was welcome to whatever drinks they would like. The McCall pack was released, walking as one with grins on their faces as they attempted to reenact the marriage of Jackson and Ethan.


	2. Chapter 2

The reception hall was even more extravagant than the room in which the ceremony took place. Thousands of long-stemmed roses hung from the ceiling, their red petals creating a dreamy pink glow over the room. The floors had been shined to a mirror-like polish and there was script on the floor with the same ‘S’ and ‘W’ logo as was in the lobby. Gentle harp music was playing as Scott noticed a live musician sitting in the corner. They made their way to their assigned table, which was covered in rose petals and had a framed painting of the newlyweds in the center. Stiles had already made his way over to the bar, walking back with two glasses of champagne, handing one to Derek. Theo had managed to convince the bartender to take his order without needing to see his ID and came back with two shots of some brown liquid for him and Liam. Theo took his with ease, Liam choked just as he got all of the alcohol into his mouth. Theo started to call him out for being a lightweight until he noticed Liam pointing at something in the distance. The group turned to see a life-size sculpture of Jackson and Ethan, both naked and both built like Greek gods. Roaming around the statue were two adult peacocks and they soon realized the statue was actually a fountain which emitted champagne and rose petals. 

“Holy fuck, I need another drink.” Theo worked his way back to the bar. Once everyone was settled with their drink of choice, the group sat around the table, talking about what their lives had been up to within the past couple of weeks. No one had anything very interesting to say: Stiles had been working on his online courses from George Washington, trying to catch up on the semester he dropped when Derek went missing last year. Lydia was busy raising Allison but was also only a handful of credits away from graduating from MIT. She would be the 5th fastest person to graduate in school history, the 2nd fastest to graduate in mathematics. Liam’s life was completely dedicated to lacrosse at the moment; Theo’s life was completely dedicated to Liam. He was tempted to drop out of school, seeing as he was already two years behind everyone else, but stuck around so that he could spend more time with his boyfriend. Besides, they would graduate this year and he could finally be done with high school, six years later. The room grew quiet as an emcee went to the microphone, announcing the brand-new Mr. and Mr. Whittemore-Steiner. Ethan and Jackson walked in, both of them grinning from ear to ear. Jackson had on an entirely different suit, this one stark white and edged with gold trim. Scott almost couldn’t believe how gaudy the entire event was, but, then again, he didn’t expect anything different from Jackson. 

Dinner was served, a four-course feast which included filet mignon, albino caviar and some kind of soup that the werewolves at the table refused to touch because of the smell. A bottle of champagne was left at every table, Derek grinning from ear to ear as he pulled the bottle out of the bucket of ice. There was no wedding party, so, thankfully, no one had to hear any embarrassing stories from a best man, but each of the fathers spoke, simply giving quick speeches on how they were proud of their sons and how they welcomed the other into the family. 

Ethan and Jackson had their first dance: a Celine Dion song which Liam was a half-second away from making fun of before he looked over and saw Theo mouthing the words. The dance floor opened up to everyone else. Liam, surprisingly, was the first one up, grabbing onto Theo’s hands excitedly, pulling him towards the middle of the dance floor. Stiles eagerly looked at Derek, whose face was still as he rolled his eyes and shook his head. It was going to require much more than just one bottle of champagne to get Derek Hale to dance. Scott set down his drink and stood up, walking to the other side of the table where Lydia sat with Allison, bouncing the baby up and down, cooing into her face each time she was in the air. Allison was loving it, her giggles loud as she laughed at her mother. 

“Lydia, do you want to dance?” 

Lydia was surprised but still agreed, handing the baby over to Parrish as she kissed his cheek. She would never admit it, but she was happy to get a break from the baby, to forget about being a mom and just be a normal person again. Her and Scott danced for several songs before Theo cut in and stole Lydia away. Scott and Liam gave each other a look, silently asking if they were really going to dance with each other, before they turned and went back to the table. A new bottle had been opened, two others sitting empty on the table, and Derek’s face was starting to flush with each sip he took. A slower song came on and Derek leaned over to whisper in Stiles’s ear. Stiles looked shocked as Derek stood up, holding out his hand as an invitation to dance. Parrish leaned over to Scott, whispering “would you mind?” as he held up Allison. Scott immediately nodded, reaching for his niece with delight. Parrish went out on the dance floor to find Lydia, Liam closely behind him to find Theo. At one point Scott might have been disappointed that all of his friends were paired off, leaving him to sit alone, but the toothless, drooly grin from Allison completely changed his mindset. He wouldn’t have wanted to be on that dance floor for anything. 

Theo wrapped his left arm around Liam’s shoulder, using his right hand to hold on to Liam’s left. Liam leaned in, resting his head onto Theo, brushing a kiss against his neck as the two swayed to the music. Theo started to hum, realizing he knew the song that was playing and whispered the words into Liam’s ear. 

“ _I can’t take a day without you here; you’re the light that makes my darkness disappear_.” 

“I didn’t know you were a Jonas Brothers fan, Raeken.” 

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, little wolf.” 

He continued singing the song, pulling Liam closer. Theo’s voice was off-key but Liam didn’t care; he was on cloud nine, Theo’s breath tickling his ear and his hand squeezing tighter onto Liam’s. Liam smiled as he closed his eyes, letting himself get lost on the dance floor. The room might have been crowded with other couples, but to him it was only the two of them. 

Lydia grinned as she watched the two. For a long time, too long in fact, everyone else in their friend group knew just how much one cared for the other, except for them. She could almost still feel the agony, watching Theo pine away for Liam and vice versa, until both were miserable. She had wanted to scream at them to open their goddamn eyes. Eventually, they found each other, just as the universe always wanted. She felt lips against her cheek and she brought her focus back to the moment, back to Parrish. She smiled and brought her lips to his, feeling the heat that radiated off of them and aching for more. Just the one kiss was all that was allowed, though, as he broke away and rested his chin on the top of Lydia’s head. She too was in bliss, as she wrapped her arms around Parrish’s shoulders to bring him closer. 

Derek and Stiles made their way past, Stiles feeling his heart ache as he looked at Lydia. He was still in love with her. He supposed he always would be, but that same heart that was hurting skipped a beat when the man holding him dropped a kiss onto his neck, his beard scratchy against Stiles’s skin. Stiles met his eyes and smiled, his lids drooping as all of the champagne had started to make him sleepy. Derek planted another kiss, this time on his cheek, as he rested his head against his, letting their bodies sway in time to the music, the two of them in silence. With the slightest whisper, Derek murmured into Stiles’s ear. 

“Marry me.” 

Stiles immediately stopped moving, the pair causing a slight ruckus as other couples on the dance floor had to avoid the now still one. 

“What are you even talking about, Derek?” 

“I’m talking about you. Marrying me.” 

“You’re drunk.” 

“Maybe a little, but that doesn’t change anything. I want you to marry me.” 

Stiles looked at his face in shock, his eyes rapidly searching over Derek’s face, hoping to find some hint of a joke or prank. Derek was completely serious, his eyes filled with adoration as he couldn’t take them off of Stiles’s lips. 

“Derek, I...” Stiles laughed awkwardly; his mind completely blank for maybe the first time in his entire life. “I don’t know what to say.” 

“Say yes,” Derek purred, his teeth grazing Stiles’s earlobe. Stiles didn’t know what was in the champagne but it had turned Derek Hale into a crazy person. 

“Ask me again tomorrow, when the alcohol has worked its way out of your system. If you still feel the same, then we can talk.” 

“I’ll always feel the same,” Derek’s words grew quiet as the conversation trailed off, the music switching to a much more fast-paced song but the two of them still swaying to the last. Stiles finally moved his body away from Derek’s, keeping a firm clasp onto his hand as he wound his way back to their table. Lydia and Parrish had already taken back Allison, apparently only able to handle a few songs away from their daughter before their parental instincts kicked in. Scott gave a strange look to Stiles, clearly reading that something was wrong with his friend and wanting to know what was going on. Stiles motioned for the bar and sat Derek down, planting a kiss on the top of his head as he walked away, prepared to tell his best friend everything that had just went down on the dance floor.


	3. Chapter 3

Theo and Liam were the last two on the dance floor, oblivious to the wedding ending as they held onto each other tightly, swaying to music which had long since ended. Stiles gently placed a hand on Liam’s shoulder, immediately jumping back and screaming as Theo growled at him, his eyes flashing yellow for a split second. Liam shook himself out of his haze and looked around, realizing they were the only two left dancing and a few of the couple dozen still even left at the wedding. “Oh shit,” he mumbled, letting go of Theo for the first time in hours as they begrudgingly walked back to their table to gather their things. Parrish and Lydia had been gone for a while, the screams of Allison indicating that their time out in the real world was up and they needed to return home. Derek sat with his head on his chest, the amount of alcohol he had consumed over the past few hours finally catching up with him as he dozed off. Scott helped Stiles pull Derek out of his chair, each of them taking a place under one of his arms to carry him out of the building. Jackson and Ethan stood at the door, gently holding hands as they said good-bye to each one of their guests. Never in a million years would Scott have imagined them as a couple. Their love radiated throughout the entire room, though, warming Scott’s heart as he grinned at the newlyweds. 

“Thanks for having us,” he chimed brightly, reaching out his free hand to shake with the grooms. Ethan was still beaming and he thanked everyone profusely for coming. Jackson was in a permanent state of annoyance and he warned Scott to not let Derek run into any cars on the way out. He would hate for a paint job to become damaged over the carelessness of the McCall pack. Scott rolled his eyes but nodded, waving good-bye once more at the happy couple as they made their way out of the country club. 

Somehow, they all managed to pile into the Jeep, Scott insisting that he drive Theo and Liam home, even though the two repeated over and over that they were fine. He had seen the number of shots the two had taken and, even though he knew their werewolf bodies processed alcohol the same as his, he wasn’t taking the chance. He dropped them off at Liam’s house, where Theo was now staying permanently. He had been homeless since his return to Beacon Hills, spending a year living in his truck before bouncing between the various houses of the pack members. After he started dating Liam, though, the Geyers were only more than happy to let Theo into their home, welcoming him with open arms. Scott knew how much shit Liam had gone through with his dad, their shared anger issues and his transfer to Beacon Hills High School. Add on top of that the werewolf bite, watching his ex-girlfriend die in his arms and everything else that had happened in the past few years, Scott was ecstatic that Liam was finally in a good place. He waved as the two disappeared into the front door, grimacing as he watched Theo’s hand slowly make his way down Liam’s back before squeezing hard onto his backside. Scott may have loved to see them happy, but didn’t really need to see that. 

The drive from the Geyers’ house to the Stilinskis’ was a quiet one, Derek still fast asleep in the back seat. Scott threw a glance at Stiles, who was sitting in the passenger seat, his face deep in concentration. 

“Still not sure how to handle what Derek said?” 

Stiles shook his head, his mouth opening and closing a few times in silence as he tried to come up with the words, but failed. Scott just nodded. He didn’t know what to say either. He was thrilled beyond comprehension when Stiles said that Derek proposed but quickly realized that Stiles didn’t feel the same. He wasn’t sure why Stiles was so hesitant; the two were very much in love and happy together. But Scott also knew that changes like that made everyone react differently. He helped Stiles drag Derek into the house, out of breath by the time they flopped the heavy wolf onto Stiles’s bed. Stiles smiled weakly, patting Scott’s arm as he murmured for him to drive safe. Scott closed the door behind him, watching as Stiles took off his shoes and curled into the bed next to Derek still fully clothed. The house was dark as he pulled up; his mom, Melissa, had long since gone to bed, exhausted from another day in the emergency room. Scott walked up to his bedroom as silently as he could, peeling off the uncomfortable suit jacket and tie as he went. His head hit his pillow with a satisfying smack and he was asleep within a few minutes, smile still on his face as he recalled the evening. 

He woke up the next morning with a pain in his chest so strong that he shot up in bed, gasping, grabbing his chest and being almost surprised when he found himself completely intact. He took a few deep breaths as his chest heaved up and down, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what was going on. Maybe an asthma attack triggered by a dream? He reached for his inhaler on his bedside table, the medication inside almost past expiration. He had very little need for the thing anymore but still refused to get rid of it. He took a deep breath and he felt the metallic taste of the medication coat his mouth and throat. He felt the ache in his chest start to subside and his mind started to clear as oxygen made its way through his body. He thought about the night before and smiled; as much as he hated weddings, he had had a great time with all of his friends. What he needed now, though, was coffee. He threw on some clothes and headed downstairs. He hadn’t checked his phone before bounding out of his room and had no idea what time it was. He didn’t know if his mom had already left for work or if she would be in the kitchen. His head peered around the corner and he saw Melissa sitting at the dining room table next to Chris Argent, who, thankfully, looked like he had just gotten there and hadn’t spent the night. A few weeks ago, Scott had been unfortunate enough to be greeted by a half-naked Chris in the morning, his vision turning blurry and his stomach churning as he realized what he had been doing there so early. This time, Scott was surprised to see Chris at all; he thought the hunter was on the other side of the country with the Winchester brothers, tracking down a siren that had been terrorizing vacationers on the Gulf Coast. 

Scott first met Sam and Dean Winchester almost exactly a year ago, when Stiles had brought them in to help with the disappearance of Derek. He shivered as he thought about what had happened next: the Winchesters had brought in the British Men of Letters, an organization which specialized in studying and hunting supernatural creatures, who double-crossed them, inciting a massacre against the supernatural beings of Beacon Hills. The British ended up killing 22 people, including the Winchesters’ mother, Mary, and Liam’s best friend, Mason Hewitt. In the end, Derek was rescued and the McCall pack gained a group of friends from within the French Men of Letters, but Scott still felt terror rise in his chest when he thought about everything that had happened. He made a mental note to text his friend, Isaac Lahey, who was a member of the French Men of Letters, once he got back to his phone upstairs. 

“Argent! I wasn’t expecting to see you here so soon. What was it? Couldn’t stand the weather?” 

Chris laughed a booming laugh, before explaining that they had caught the siren quicker than anticipated and he was just ready to be home. Instead of driving back with the Winchesters, he had caught a flight out of Tampa last night. The Winchesters notoriously drove anywhere they were headed. Sometimes road trips could be fun, but Scott could see how a drive from Florida to southern California wouldn’t exactly be something to look forward to. 

“How was the wedding?” Melissa McCall wrapped her hands around a warm mug filled with black coffee. 

“Surprisingly, a lot of fun. You aren’t going to believe this, but Castiel was the officiant.” 

“Castiel the angel?” 

“Yeah, we couldn’t believe it either. I didn’t even know he knew Jackson and Ethan.” 

“He didn’t. When Jackson heard you guys had met an angel, he was insistent on having him in his wedding. The Winchesters were telling me all about it.” 

The entire table burst out laughing and Scott knew he had to tell Stiles immediately about just another extravagance that Jackson had added to his wedding. He heard the sound of a heartbeat just a few seconds before the doorbell rang. He looked at his mom inquisitively. Melissa just shrugged; she wasn’t expecting anybody, especially this early. Scott walked to the door and noticed how quickly the person’s heart was beating and started to smell something familiar, although he couldn’t quite place it. He unlocked the deadbolt and pulled open the door. His heart dropped and he felt his mouth go instantly dry. 

“ALLISON?!”


	4. Chapter 4

It had been three years since Allison Argent had been killed, but she didn’t look a day older. Her long, dark hair rested over her shoulders and her dark brown eyes were bright as she beamed at Scott. She ran into the house and grabbed his face, immediately smashing a kiss onto his lips. The smell of her was intoxicating and completely took over the rest of Scott’s senses. He wrapped his arms around her waist, unable to believe that she was here. In the back of his mind, he heard footsteps, Chris and Melissa making their way from the kitchen to see what the commotion was at the front door. 

“Scott! Get back!” 

Chris pulled Scott away from Allison, and, at the same time, pulled a gun from his belt and pointed it at her. 

“Chris! What are you doing?” 

“I don’t know what that is but it’s not my daughter. Allison is dead.” 

“Daddy, it’s ME.” 

Her eyes were wide as she stared down the barrel of his gun, frantically looking back and forth between Chris and Scott. 

“I don’t know how. I just woke up this morning in bed. It’s me, Dad, it’s really me!” 

It hadn’t occurred to Scott that this could have been some kind of shapeshifter or demon. The girl standing before him looked, smelled, felt—even tasted—just like Allison. 

“Silver, Chris. Get silver.” 

While working with the Winchesters, Scott had learned a quick trick to detect the supernatural: almost all creatures would freak out when you touched them with silver, including shapeshifters or demons. Chris nodded and pulled a knife from his belt, his gun kept pointed at Allison the entire time. He motioned for her arm and she thrust her forearm towards him. He made a cut cleanly into her skin, but nothing else happened. There was no smoke, no sparks, nothing to indicate that Allison was hurt, other than the blood slowly dripping down her skin. As far as they could tell, she was human. 

“Allison.” 

Chris’s voice was barely a whisper as he dropped his knife and gun, both clattering to the ground. He wrapped his arms around his daughter, both of them openly sobbing as they held each other. Melissa reached over and hugged Scott, her own eyes filling with tears. 

“Allison, my Allison. I can’t believe It's you. How... how are you here?” 

“I don’t know. I told you, I just woke up in the house this morning like it was any other day. I couldn’t find you so I came here next, to find Scott.” 

Scott knew the reunion would be short-lived. People don’t just come back from the dead. He muttered that he would be right back as he ran upstairs for his phone. He saw the light from the screen almost immediately, a call from Liam already happening. He let it go to voicemail. He had to talk with the Winchesters. As he declined the call, he noticed that this wasn’t the first time Liam had called him; there were six other missed calls from the boy and almost ten from Stiles. Something was wrong. A slew of messages urged Scott to call Theo, Liam, Stiles, Derek and even Jackson, who was supposed to be off honeymooning today. Not sure who to call first, he ran down the stairs, explaining to the three still there that something had to be wrong, everyone was freaking out about something. 

Before he could even finish there was a pounding at the door. Chris threw it open, revealing Liam and Theo, with a dark-haired girl that Scott didn’t know in tow. She had her hands in front of her and they were tied together with duct tape, another silver piece of tape covering her mouth. 

“Liam! Did you... did you guys kidnap someone?! What’s going on?!” 

The phone in his hand started ringing again: Stiles. He immediately answered. 

“Stiles! Is something wrong? We have a situation here and I really need to call you back.” 

“Scott, don’t you dare hang up! Laura Hale is here. LAURA. HALE.” 

Scott’s face blanched. Laura Hale was Derek’s sister. She had been dead for almost four years. Their uncle, Peter, had sliced her body in two in a move to make himself the Alpha of the Beacon Hills pack. 

“Get here now. Bring her.” He hung up the phone before he could get dragged into anything else Stiles had to say, throwing his phone into his pocket so he could avoid any more phone calls. Unless the call was from the Winchesters, he had more chaos going on here than he could handle and didn’t need anything else added on. 

“Chris. There’s another one. Laura Hale. Get the Winchesters on the phone. Now.” 

Chris nodded and ran off, throwing one sad look towards his daughter as he left the room. At this point, the entire foyer was in a state of panic. Melissa’s eyes were wide as she stared at the girl Theo and Liam had brought in; the two boys were both white as sheets as they stared at Allison, although Theo still had a firm grip on the girl they had brought, his knuckles white. Allison was standing by herself in the corner by the front door, asking herself the same questions that everyone else was shouting. 

“Theo. Liam. Answer me. Who is she? What is happening?” 

Theo’s mouth opened but closed quickly, his eyes out of focus and his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he breathed heavily, the gasps quiet, but still there. Liam didn’t look much better, his hand resting on Theo’s shoulder but his face just as in shock. 

“It’s Tara.” 

Scott felt his stomach twist into a million knots. Tara Raeken, Theo’s sister. Much like everyone else that had been showing up today, she had been, until now, very dead. It had been over ten years since Tara had died, freezing to death in Old Willow Creek just outside of town. Unlike Allison, Tara had obviously aged. She had only been eleven years old when she died; she looked to be in her early 20s now. Chris walked back into the front hall, still on the phone with one of the Winchester brothers, explaining how they needed to keep the dead together, not letting any of them leave until the Winchesters could get into town. They also suggested calling in their friends from France, stating they were going to need all the help they could get. Scott nodded and pulled out his phone, noticing another two missed calls from Jackson. As much as he wanted to ignore them, he knew Jackson would never call him unless it was an absolute emergency. He hit the call back button and Jackson picked up after only one ring. 

“Jackson, It's Scott.” 

“Jesus, McCall, learn to answer your goddamn phone. We have a situation over here.” 

“Yeah, well, me too, you aren’t special. Can you explain faster?” 

“It’s Aiden. Aiden showed up at our door this morning.” 

Aiden was Ethan’s identical twin brother and, that’s right, dead. At least, he had been until today. 

“Get him here, now. We’ll explain later. Do not let Aiden out of your sight.” 

He hung up before Jackson could ask any questions. His mind was going a thousand miles an hour and everything was starting to become blurry. He felt his chest begin to tighten and his breathing grew more rapid, turning into chokes as he lost the ability to catch his breath. Melissa ran over, placing her hands firmly on her son’s chest before forcing him to sit down on the floor in the hallway. She begged him to slow his breathing, shouting for someone to find his inhaler, which had to be somewhere in his room. With the situations at hand, though, every stood still, their own shock making them unable to move. Allison broke first, running towards Scott and dropping to the ground. She quickly pressed her lips against his and Scott stopped breathing, holding in his breath long enough that his heart could slow down and his brain could forget, even if it was just for a split second. Melissa breathed a sigh of relief and Allison broke the kiss, leaning her forehead onto Scott’s as he gained control of his breathing. 

“There you go. You’re doing great, Scott.” 

“Everyone seems to know that trick except for me,” Scott laughed, his voice hoarse. He blinked several times as his vision came back into focus. He calmly explained to the group that Aiden was back, too, adding another to their list of those who had returned from the dead. He was still calm as he opened his phone, scanning through his contact list as he tried to decide whether to call Isaac or Cameron Beachard, co-director of the French Men of the Letters. He went with the latter. Isaac had been dating Allison when she died; he needed to speak with someone who wasn’t going to have any emotional attachments to any of the people who had returned to Beacon Hills. 

Cameron answered his phone quickly, excited to talk to his new friend, but growing less excited with each word that Scott said. He already had several ideas of what they could be dealing with. Best case scenario, they had a necromancer; worst case, there were demons involved. Scott didn’t really think a necromancer would be the best case but he kept his mouth shut as Cameron spoke. Cameron himself wouldn’t be able to leave France but he would send a few of his agents, including Isaac Lahey and Malia Tate, both former residents of Beacon Hills themselves, and his own sister, Celestine. Celestine was the other co-director, but a lot of her work was more hands-on instead of administrative, like Cameron. Scott ended the call with Cameron, calmly reiterating everything to his pack. Stiles, Derek and Laura had joined by then, Laura Hale silent as she stared at everyone in the room. The only person she really knew was Derek; everyone else was a stranger to the elder Hale. There was a knock at the door and everyone groaned. No one was going to be able to handle any more excitement. However, on the other side stood Jackson, Ethan and Aiden, who were expected, the three quickly briefed on the situation. 

Melissa had made another few pots of coffee, bringing them out to the dining room table along with whatever food she could find in the fridge. She knew hungry werewolves wouldn’t care if she served breakfast food or not; her suspicions confirmed as Liam grabbed a cold fish stick off of a plate. Scott cleared his throat and took a deep sigh before finally speaking. 

“I know we’ve all been through a lot this morning. And I know you guys have already been asked a million questions, but... Laura, Allison, Aiden... tell us again how you got here. Tell us everything.” 

Laura was the first to speak up and the room grew silent as she recounted her tale of death, the afterlife and how she ended up back in Beacon Hills.


	5. Chapter 5

Isaac Lahey stared at Malia Tate as she ran on an elliptical, her short, light brown hair swaying back and forth as she moved. He had been on the same treadmill for an hour, barely moving, except when Malia threw a glance in his direction. When that happened, he started running violently, almost falling off of the treadmill every time. 

“You know I can see you, right?” Malia finally asked, her voice annoyed as she kept staring directly ahead, not paying the least bit of attention to Isaac. 

“Yeah, I just... you know... I’m... watching your form?” 

He shook his head as he uttered the last line, knowing how stupid it sounded even before it left his mouth. Malia rolled her eyes but smiled at the same time, just a small grin hidden at the corner of her lips. The door to gym slammed open and in walked Braeden Howard, her long, dark hair pulled into a ponytail. She saw Malia and smiled, taking her place on the elliptical next to her, saying a few words before popping in her headphones. There was something about Braeden that made Isaac nervous. It was probably the fact that she could kill him with her pinky finger if she really wanted to. Braeden was the assistant director to the French Men of Letters, although Isaac had met her years before, in Beacon Hills. He started to watch the two girls together but one death glare from Braeden was enough for him to pack up his stuff and leave. 

The air outside of the gym was about twenty degrees cooler and Isaac felt a chill move throughout his body. He would never get used to how cold it got in France compared to southern California, where he had grown up. Isaac had originally ventured to France with Chris Argent; the two had been on a mission to track down Chris’s sister, Kate. Although Kate had yet to be captured, Isaac did get the chance to meet Cameron Beachard, who convinced him to join the Men of Letters, and Isaac had been in Bourdeaux ever since. He loved being a MoL agent; he got paid to travel the globe, hunt monsters and hang out with his best friend. At that moment, Cameron turned the corner, a grim look on his face as he hurried towards Isaac. There wasn’t a lot of room for good news in the world of monster hunters, but, just once, Isaac wished Cameron would bring him something good. Maybe a rogue den of puppies or a haunted strip club. Anything, really, besides whatever he was getting ready to say to him. 

“It’s Beacon Hills.” 

Isaac wasn’t the least bit surprised to hear that something was going on in Beacon Hills again. The town was notorious for its attraction to the supernatural and Scott and Stiles had a knack for getting into fights with whatever it was that had decided to roll in. 

“What is it this time? Vampires? Changelings? Maybe a three-headed dog?” 

A breath of laughter escaped Cameron before he continued. 

“You’re close, but no. There have been at least four reports of people coming back from the dead.” 

“Wicked. I was wondering when we’d get a zombie apocalypse.” 

“Isaac. Allison Argent was one of them.” 

Isaac felt the blood rush from his face and his breath caught in his throat. He had left Beacon Hills because of the death of Allison, who he had been dating when she was killed. He sat down on the cold floor in the hallway. 

“Is it... is it really her?” 

Cameron nodded grimly. 

“As far as they can tell, yes. She passed the silver, salt and holy water tests.” 

“Who else?” 

“Laura Hale, Aiden Steiner and Tara Raeken.” 

Isaac released a breath. He realized he had the fear hidden in the back of his mind that his dad had been one of the people raised from the dead. If anyone deserved to rot in Hell, it was Dan Lahey. He had never gotten the chance to meet Laura Hale; he vaguely remembered Tara Raeken from elementary school; she was a fifth grader and Isaac was in third, sharing the same class with her younger brother, Theo. He remembered when she went missing and was eventually found dead. His dad hadn’t let him leave the house for weeks, which was ironic, seeing as how Isaac almost died at the hands of his dad multiple times. He didn’t need to leave the house to be put into danger. He shuddered but shook the thoughts out of his head. 

“Cameron, I have to go.” 

The older boy nodded. “Say no more. I’ve already assigned you and Celestine to the case. I’m sending the two of you, plus Malia, Teagan and Henri to the States.” 

If it was any other case, Isaac would be ecstatic with who was on his task force. Before the twins had been given director duties, the three of them had been inseparable; Celestine was just as much his best friend as Cameron was. Henri Thomas was a few years older than Isaac and reminded him a lot of his older brother, Camden. He was very competitive and a little bit of a hothead, but was super smart and knew everything there was to know about the supernatural world without having to consult the books. Teagan Laurent was a riot. She was loud and fun and always had some kind of trick hidden up her sleeve. She was also one of the best codebreakers he had ever seen. Legend has it that she had figured out the Zodiac puzzle when she was still in middle school but Isaac had never gotten the opportunity to figure out if that was true. With Teagan, it was really a 50/50 chance: she was smart enough to have done it but also lied out of her ass all the time. 

Cameron helped Isaac off of the floor, patting the back of his friend as they walked towards the dorms. Isaac needed some time to process and was going to pack before meeting in the briefing room to get the rest of the information on his case. 

“Will you do me a favor, though, mon ami? Bring Malia back in one piece.” 

Isaac abruptly stopped; his face upturned in confusion. 

“You... you and Malia?” 

Cameron smiled awkwardly as he tilted his head back and forth. 

“Maybe one day I’ll have the courage to ask her out. Make sure I have a chance to.” 

He winked and patted Isaac on the shoulder, turning to walk back down the hallway in the direction of his office. He still had to explain the situation to his sister and make sure she was on-board to head to California in the morning. Isaac walked into his dorm and immediately sat on his bed, head in his hands as his mind raced. Allison was back, his Allison. He knew he’d be getting a call any day that would take him back to Beacon Hills, but this was definitely not the one he expected. He looked over at his nightstand, where a picture of him and Allison sat, the biggest smile on her face as she hung off of Isaac’s back. He felt the tears start to well up in his eyes and he grabbed the picture, taking one last look at her before putting the frame face-down on his bed. He closed his eyes and took a few short breaths. When he opened them again, he stood up, reaching under his bed for the duffel bag he kept there. He started throwing clothes in his bag, mainly things he could fight in, and was haphazardly throwing personal items in, too. His deodorant obviously had to go. His alarm clock wasn’t really necessary but he still threw it into the bag. He was basically doing anything to keep his mind off of being in Beacon Hills again, seeing Allison’s face. 

He heard a knock at the door and yelled for whoever was there to come in. Celestine popped her head in, her eyes sad as she smiled slightly at Isaac. 

“Are you ok?” she signed, reaching a hand out to place onto Isaac’s shoulder. He shook his head and sat back down. He started to tell Celestine how much this case was going to hurt, but suddenly had forgotten any FSL, his hands still as his mind drew a blank. Celestine put her hands over his, gently rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand. Without having to say a word, she knew. She understood how difficult this was going to be for her friend but she also understood his urge to be assigned to the case. If her older sister, Matilde, had suddenly come back from the dead, she would want to be the first one there, too. Matilde had died when she was only four years old at the hands of a banshee, the same one which destroyed Celestine’s ears and left her deaf for the rest of her life. She had always quietly thanked the banshee for taking her hearing but she would never forgive the monster for robbing her of a sister. The two sat motionless for a while until Celestine asked to see what Isaac had packed. She dug through his bag, throwing him a confused look when she pulled out the alarm clock. He laughed and wiped the tears from his face, placing the clock back on his nightstand. She noticed the picture sitting on Isaac’s bed and picked it up, a soft smile covering her face as she saw the happiness in her friend exude from the photo. 

“She’s beautiful,” she signed, carefully packing the picture frame into his bag. “Don’t worry about her loving you, just worry about helping her.” 

Isaac nodded as he reached to hug Celestine. She may have only been five years older than him, but she was wise beyond her years. She told him to hurry up as she headed out the door. Briefing was going to start in ten minutes and he shouldn’t be late. He told her that he would be out in a few minutes, shoving a few more articles of clothing into his bag before he zipped it up. No matter what was waiting for him back in Beacon Hills, he was ready.


	6. Chapter 6

Lydia burst into the McCall house without even knocking, running towards the living room with tears streaming down her face. She grabbed Allison in a hug, running her hands over her hair and face, just trying to prove to her own mind that her best friend was back and alive. She had gotten to give Allison a proper farewell last year, when Allison’s ghost had appeared to Liam, who turned out to come from a family of mediums, but it wasn’t the same as getting to hold her best friend again. She continued to sob, repeating over and over how much she missed her and how she couldn’t believe she was here again. Parrish had finally made it inside—Lydia had obviously run out of the car as soon as it had parked in front of the McCall house-- and was standing in the doorway of the dining room with a car seat, smiling at the two girls. Lydia started wiping the tears from her cheeks, motioning for Parrish to come forward. 

“I have someone very special I want you to meet.” 

Lydia lifted the blanket off of the car seat. Baby Allison was awake, a smile coming to her face as she spotted her mother. Lydia undid all of the buckles and lifted her from the seat, dropping a soft kiss onto her head as she set her into her lap. 

“This little lovely lady here is my daughter: Allison Natalie Parrish. Named after the two strongest and most beautiful women in my life.” 

“Who’s Natalie?” Liam asked, ruining a perfectly good moment as every head in the room turned to look at him in annoyance. 

“It’s her mom, now shut up,” Theo snapped. 

Allison’s eyes filled with tears again as she reached for the baby, who was only too happy to be meeting someone new. 

“Hi, baby!” Allison cooed, pressing her lips onto her soft forehead. “Your Auntie Allison loves you so very much, yes I do.” 

“We’ve always called her Allison,” Lydia started, running a finger under her eye to catch a stray tear before it could fall. “But I guess since you’re back, we’re going to have to try Allie.” Parrish placed his hand on Lydia’s shoulder and she immediately reached up to take his hand, running her thumb softly across his knuckles. Allison continued to coo over the baby, even asking Lydia if she could feed her once Allie had started to fuss. Scott smiled as he watched Allison’s hair fall in a curtain across Allie’s face, her eyes soft and filled with light as she bottle-fed the baby. She would have made an amazing mother. Maybe now she would have a chance, he thought, unsure of what the future was going to bring for the four returned people. Laura had not left Derek’s side the entire morning; the same went with Aiden and Ethan. Tara was still tied in her chair. Theo didn’t trust her and wasn’t going to give her the opportunity to do something against him. To be fair, Theo had been the one to kill Tara; leaving her to die in the wilderness so he could have her heart transplanted into him, but no one wanted any blood shed on a day that was containing so many miracles. If Tara Raeken was going to get revenge on her brother, it wasn’t going to be today. 

The group sat in silence, watching Allison interact with Allie, for almost a full half hour. No one wanted to interrupt such an important moment. Scott felt a tickle in his throat and started to cough; his asthma attack from this morning still lingering in the back of his mind. He heard Theo give out a dry cough too and figured there must be something in the air, pushing back any more thoughts of his asthma. At some point Melissa must have snuck out of the room to order food, as the doorbell rang and enough Chinese food to feed an army was brought into the dining room. Melissa wasn’t stupid: not only had she had a teenage boy in her house, she had a teenage werewolf. They could eat their body weight and then some. Liam grabbed a whole carton of noodles for himself. Theo was eating egg rolls almost whole, making his way through three before Melissa stuck a carton of fried rice in front of him. Stiles was making a sandwich out of dumplings and Hunan chicken, smushing the pieces together before quickly shoving them into his mouth before the shape could fall apart. The room quickly noticed, though, that none of the returned were eating. Allison was the first to admit that she couldn’t even smell the food and she hadn’t been the least bit hungry all day. Laura and Aiden nodded in agreement; the same thing was happening to them as well. Scott made a mental note to tell that information to the Winchesters; it might lead to a clue about how and why his friends were back from the dead. 

None of the group wanted to leave and Melissa insisted that everyone find a place to sleep somewhere in the house. Theo and Liam yelled dibs as they ran upstairs, Melissa quickly adding the clause that her bed was off limits. Parrish packed up Allie’s things and agreed to take the baby home; Lydia struggled with spending the night away from her daughter but she also didn’t want to leave Allison Argent’s side. No one knew when the returned might go back to their natural state of being. Parrish quickly kissed Lydia before heading out the door, Lydia kissing the baby approximately a thousand times before they were allowed to leave. Stiles took Derek’s hand and let him to the living room. There wouldn’t be room for both of them on couch but he was willing to sleep on the floor just beneath him. Laura followed, agreeing to lay on the floor next to Stiles, although she wasn’t sure she was going to sleep at all. Melissa showed Ethan, Aiden and Jackson to the guest bedroom. She was surprised that it was empty and that it hadn’t been the room Theo and Liam had called dibs on. She quickly realized the only other option was Scott’s bedroom, but she kept her mouth shut. Let him figure that out later. Scott, however, had other plans, grabbing several blankets and pillows, working his way to the back of the house, motioning for Allison and Lydia to follow. There was a small room in-between the back porch and the kitchen, mainly just used as a mudroom. He knew their camping equipment was in there, though, and pulled out the two sleeping bags the McCalls owned, laying them out side by side. He insisted that the girls take the bags and he’d be fine on the floor, but, after a very convincing argument from Allison that she didn’t think she needed sleep, he settled into a sleeping bag next to Lydia. Allison lay beside him, her hand quickly finding his, interlacing their fingers together. 

“Allison,” he started, his words quickly getting caught in his throat. “I thought I was never going to see you again.” 

“That’s usually what dead means, Scott.” A grin crept over Allison’s face but it quickly softened as she looked into Scott’s eyes. 

“How did this happen?” he whispered; it was a rhetorical question given the amount of discussion that had been had all day. 

“I don’t know,” Allison whispered back, leaning forward so that she could press her forehead against Scott’s, “but I’m so glad it did. No matter what happens, I’m just glad to get one more moment with you.” She gently kissed his lips. “Sleep. Enjoy the peace now.” Even though everything seemed calm at the moment, both Scott and Allison knew it wasn’t going to last. People didn’t just come back from the dead all on their own; there were bound to be consequences. What those consequences would be, neither one of them wanted to think about. Scott closed his eyes. He had almost been asleep when he heard a ping from his phone: another text message from Sam Winchester. The brothers had made their way to Memphis and Sam was going to try and convince his brother to catch a flight so that it wouldn’t be another two days before they could make it to Beacon Hills. Scott noticed his phone battery was down to 2% and groaned. He was going to have to go all the way upstairs to get his charger. He kissed Allison and made his way off of the floor, insisting he would only be gone a few minutes as he ran off towards his bedroom.


	7. Chapter 7

_WANT TO FUCK IN MCCALL’S BED?_

The text message came as a surprise, considering they had been discussing necromancy for the past twelve hours, causing Liam to choke as they sat at the dinner table with all of their friends. He caught a glimpse of Theo out of the corner of his eye, the mischievous look on his face giving everything away. He shouldn’t have been surprised that sex was the only thing on Theo’s mind, even if his sister had just returned from the dead. Melissa had been talking about everyone spending the night, listing off all of the places that people could potentially sleep. The two boys shared a look before simultaneously screaming ‘DIBS!’ as they hurried out of their seats and ran up the stairs. They ran into Scott’s bedroom, quickly shutting the door and locking it behind them. Chest heaving, Liam leaned against the door, bits of laughter sneaking out of his mouth as he tried to catch his breath. Theo laughed and jumped into the bed; his limbs spread out like a starfish as his heart raced, out of breath the same as Liam. Liam slipped his shoes off, followed quickly by his jacket, which he threw over the back of the desk chair. He walked over to the bed and stood at the foot, unbuttoning his jeans and sliding them off, throwing them in the direction of the desk, too. He crawled into bed and Theo quickly grabbed him, forcing Liam to lie flat on the bed as he straddled his hips. 

“Come here,” Liam murmured, his hand touching his nose as he hooked his finger, his eyes squinted and full of devious thoughts. Theo quickly ripped off his jacket, tossing it onto the floor next to the bed before he leaned down, resting his elbows on either side of Liam’s head, his face now just inches from his. Liam’s eyes darted across Theo’s face; he couldn’t stand just how fucking beautiful he was, with his grey eyes, full lips and an expression that somehow always said ‘I’m either going to kill you or fuck you into next week.’ Liam reached down to pull at the hem of his shirt but Theo quickly grabbed his hands, putting them above Liam’s head while planting a kiss onto Liam’s neck. 

“Don’t move those hands.” 

He let go and Liam immediately reached his hands towards Theo’s body, causing Theo’s eyes to flash yellow as a grin came to his face. He ripped his shirt off and used it to tie Liam’s hands together, lifting them up and using the other end of the shirt to tie his hands to the bedframe. 

“I said don’t move those hands.” 

Liam made a noise that was halfway between a moan and a growl, his eyes wild. Theo grinned and ran his hands at the end of his shirt, his head lowering as he kissed the bottom of Liam’s stomach. He flashed his hand in the air and his fingernails slowly formed into claws. Using one finger, he sliced Liam’s shirt open right down the middle, exposing his chest. His head lowered again and he made his way from Liam’s hip bones all the way up to his neck, kissing and licking every inch of skin that he could get to. Liam’s breath started to quicken and his skin became hot under Theo’s touch, tiny drops of perspiration shining like pearls across his tan skin. Theo’s mouth finally found Liam’s, the two quickly running out of breath. His hand slid under the waistband of Liam’s boxers, causing Liam to gasp, breaking their kiss. He strained against the shirt that had tied his hands down, desperate to touch Theo’s body. Theo’s tongue slid down Liam’s jaw, his lips brushing against Liam’s ear before moving to his neck. 

A knock at the door made Theo stop, his head whipping around, a growl escaping his throat. He ignored it and turned back to Liam but a second knock made it known that whoever was outside of the door wasn’t going away anytime soon. The knocks grew more urgent and Theo finally stood up. 

“Don’t go anywhere.” 

He winked at Liam and unlocked the door, cracking it open only far enough that he could stick his head out. 

“Yes? May I help you?” 

“I mean, it’s my room.” Scott was on the other side of the door, his face clearly annoyed as his hand flattened on the door as he tried to push it open. Theo leaned his body against the door, keeping Scott from forcing it open. 

“Do you need something? I can bring it to you.” 

“Theo. Just let me in my room. What could you possibly....” he immediately stopped talking, his mind quickly realizing what the two could be up to that would warrant a locked door and not letting Scott inside. 

“Guys, REALLY? In my BED?” 

“Sorry!” Liam yelled from inside, a smile plastered on his face. It quickly dropped, though, as he realized Scott could very easily walk into the room at any time. He hissed at Theo to help him out but a smirk from him made it painfully obvious he wasn’t going to untie him anytime soon. Liam ripped the shirt that was holding him in half, rolling off the bed with the pieces of the shirt still wrapped around his wrists. 

“No, no, no. Out. Get out.” Scott pushed the door open then, catching Theo off-guard as he took a step backward to keep from falling over. Scott's eyes went back and forth between Theo and Liam; both shirtless, Liam stripped down to just his boxers with pieces of Theo’s shirt tied around his wrists. Scott looked down for one second, noticing the raging hard-on Liam was sporting before he screamed. 

“NO! **_WHY?_** WHY DID YOU THINK THIS WAS OK?!” 

The rest of the house had started to hear the commotion and Liam heard several sets of footsteps headed towards the bedroom. Jackson stuck his head into the room first, letting out one loud laugh before he turned away, yelling at Ethan and Aiden about what was happening. 

Liam was furious at both Theo and himself for how stupid they were. They were in the house with six other werewolves, all of whom had the supernatural ability to hear a pin drop from 100 yards away; why did either of them think they could get away with fooling around? He walked over to Theo, punches flying as Theo covered his face, still laughing hysterically. A small group had made their way to the door, everyone questioning what the commotion was about. Allison’s head peeked in, her face turning beat red as she saw Liam half dressed, his wrists still tied in Theo’s ripped shirt. She hurriedly turned back to Lydia, the two of them whispering furiously before walking away. 

“You fucking asshole! God, I hate you. And will you stop laughing? Just shut up.” 

“You want me to shut up? Why don’t you make me?” 

Liam immediately punched him in the face, blood streaming down his nose before Liam’s arm had even made it back to his body. Theo grabbed at his face, pinching his nostrils together before any more blood could make its way out. 

“I tell you to ‘make me’ and you break my fucking nose? I wanted you to kiss me, you idiot.” 

Liam had already stormed out of the room, growling at everyone who got in his way, although most of them had made their way back downstairs, the initial interest gone as they all realized there wasn’t anything in Scott’s bedroom that wanted to kill them, besides Liam. Scott shrugged his shoulders at Theo, his face clearly stating that he probably deserved more than a broken nose, which was already working on healing itself. 

“I know, I know. Too far. Don’t worry, I figured it out.” 

He grabbed the articles of clothing that had already been taken off, hurrying down the stairs after Liam. If he was lucky, he would just stay mad for a few hours and wouldn’t try to kill him, or worse, break up with him. He made his way through the dining room and saw Tara still sitting at the table, the duct tape still holding her mouth and arms closed. He felt his heart drop when he saw her, having only fully realized a few hours ago that she was back, she was alive. He had killed her for power. His own sister. And, while it didn’t make things right, he had grown to regret his decision over the years. Tara had loved him, trusted him, and he had taken all of that for granted. He dropped his and Liam’s clothes onto the table, reaching down to undo the tape around her hands. His fingers slipped under the adhesive on her face and he muttered that it was going to hurt as he ripped the tape from her mouth. 

“Go get your boyfriend, you idiot.” Tara was rubbing her wrists, an attempt at bringing some blood back into circulation after almost a whole day of being restrained. Theo blinked once, words escaping his mind at the moment, as he took off towards the door after Liam. 

Liam was sitting on the front porch, his blood still boiling. He heard Theo’s heartbeat before he opened the front door, recognized the sounds of his footsteps as soon as he had left Scott’s bedroom. He refused to look at him, though, turning his body so that it was facing completely away from the porch. Theo sighed and sat down next to him, his heart still pounding. This wasn’t the first time he had triggered a rage in Liam and he knew it wasn’t going to be the last. Liam had an anger issue; Theo had an abundance of sarcasm; it wasn’t exactly a match made in heaven but they were making it work. 

“Look, Liam, I’m sorry. I took things too far, I know.” 

“You do that every time, Theo. Every fucking time. You always take things too far.” 

“I know. I’m trying to be better.” 

“Are you? Are you trying? It doesn’t really seem like it.” 

“Liam....” 

He was trying not to show it, but Theo was hurt by Liam’s words. He liked to think he had changed a lot over the years, especially when it came to Liam. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt him. Liam knew he had said the wrong thing, though, his face softening as he reached for Theo. 

“I’m sorry. I was just... so mad that you just let Scott in. Didn’t even attempt to throw me my clothes or untie me from the bed. There are parts of our relationship I’d rather keep private, you know.” 

“Why? Are you ashamed to be with me?” 

Liam firmly grabbed both of Theo’s hands, adjusting himself so that he could look straight into his eyes. 

“Never. Do you understand? I love you. I love you so goddamn much that I want to shout it at everyone. I love you so much that I don’t want to share you. So, I’m sorry if I don’t want the whole house involved in our sex life, but that doesn’t mean I’m ashamed of you.” 

Theo smiled, breaking eye contact only to stare at Liam’s lips, which Liam quickly placed onto Theo’s, a kiss that startled gentle but quickly evolved from that. Theo let go of Liam’s hands, gripping Liam’s face and neck. Liam forced himself away, burying his face into Theo’s shoulder. Theo kissed the top of his head, wrapping his arms around Liam’s body, feeling his skin start to cool under the brisk night air. 

“We’re even now.” 

Liam’s head raised; his eyebrows stitched in confusion. 

“What?” 

“That last morning in France. We’re even.” 

The pieces clicked in Liam’s mind, a memory of Theo lying in bed flashing before him, and he smiled, matching the smirk on Theo’s face. He laid back down onto Theo’s shoulder, the two sitting in silence for a few more minutes before Liam started to shiver. Apparently, a thin pair of boxers wasn’t enough to keep him warm from the cool, fall evening. 

“Come on, little wolf. Let’s go back inside.” 

The two stood up, arms still linked, as they headed back into the house. Laura and Tara were sitting at the dining room table, Tara finally getting a chance to tell her resurrection story to someone after a day of silence. She smiled at the boys as they walked by, her hand gently touching Theo’s as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Derek and Stiles were already asleep in the living room, Derek’s arm dangling over the edge of the couch, reaching for Stiles. Scott, Allison and Lydia were all still awake, the three of them whispering to each other as they sat huddled on the kitchen floor. Allison and Scott were staring at Lydia’s phone; Liam assumed they were all fawning over pictures of the baby. Their eyes looked up as they saw the two boys walk in. Scott motioned for them to come into the kitchen. 

“The bedroom? Off-limits. Never again. I’m going to have to soak my eyeballs in bleach to get rid of that image. But, if you two wanted to sleep there tonight, and I mean sleep **only** , you’re welcome to.” 

Both of their heads were hanging in shame, although they weren’t really upset in their actions, only upset that they got caught. 

“Thanks, Scott. Won’t happen again.” 

“You’re damn right it won’t. Now, get out of here and get some sleep, you lovebirds. And Theo? Clean yourself up, you’ve still got blood everywhere.” 

Theo rubbed the skin under his nose, already forgetting it had been broken in the first place. The two took off without a second thought, not wanting to waste the opportunity to sleep in a bed over the floor for the night, their footsteps hurried as they ran up the stairs. 

“You know they’re going to go up there and immediately have sex in your bed, right?” Lydia murmured, her eyes not moving up from her phone as she flipped through her photo albums. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I know. Remind me to do laundry tomorrow.” 

Allison breathed out a laugh before cooing over another picture of Allie, the three of them returning to Lydia’s phone to recount the first few months of the baby’s life before heading to sleep themselves.


	8. Chapter 8

Scott woke up the next morning with Allison curled into the sleeping bag with him, her breath warm on his neck as her head rested on his shoulder. He smiled; he had forgotten how good it felt to wake up with Allison in his arms. He felt her start to move, waking up from her slumber. He wondered how long she had gotten to sleep. 

“Good morning,” she whispered, placing a kiss onto his cheek as she moved her body closer to his. He tightened his grip on her, placing his face into her hair as he breathed her in. 

“Coffeeeeee.” Lydia was awake, her voice rough and raw as she moaned for caffeine. 

Scott took the hint, wiggling his way out of the sleeping bag as Allison protested. He planted a kiss onto her forehead as he stood up. The air was cold and he rubbed his arms through his shirt. He worked his way into the kitchen, where Melissa and Chris were already awake, cups of coffee already in their hands. 

“Morning, Scott. There’s coffee on, but not a whole lot to eat, I’m afraid. I thought about getting ready to run down to the store, but you can see how that has worked out.” Melissa was still in her pajamas, her hair wild as curls escaped around her face. 

“I’ll go, Mom. What do we need? Oh, and would you have time to wash my sheets today?” 

He grabbed the list from his mom, throwing on a sweatshirt as he slipped into his sneakers, catching the car keys in his left hand as Melissa threw them from the kitchen. He snaked his way out of the driveway, weaving past Stiles’s Jeep and Theo’s truck, before he took off down the street. As far back as he could remember the McCalls had shopped at Taylor’s, a small locally owned grocery store on the south side of Beacon Hills. He pulled into the parking lot, surprised at how busy the store was so early in the morning. He walked inside and was immediately hit with the smell of baked goods; something chocolate was being made over in the bakery. He grabbed a cart and started down the first aisle, putting several cans of coffee into the basket in anticipation of his pack being at his house many mornings that week. His face buried in his list, making sure to not miss anything as he worked his way down the aisles. He felt his cart run into something solid and he immediately looked up, worried he had run into some kind of product display. He found his cart connected to another one which was driven by a girl with dark hair which was pulled into a bun at the top of her head, an over-sized sweatshirt covering her body. 

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention at all.” 

“Don't worry about it!” her voice was light and airy, a hint of a laugh sitting just on the edges. She started to move her cart around Scott’s as he continued to stare at her. 

“I’m sorry, this is going to be weird, but do I know you? You look so familiar.” 

She nodded. “Jackson Whittemore’s wedding. I moonlight as a caterer to help pay off nursing school and I remember seeing you there.” 

Scott’s memory flashed back to the wedding, the face of a girl in a floor-length red ballgown coming to his mind. 

“Oh yeah! I remember you! How are you?” 

“I’m doing great. Did you all have a good time? It was certainly... something.” 

They locked eyes and both burst out laughing, remembering the extravagance of Jackson and Ethan’s nuptials. 

“I’m Scott,” he reached his hand out to shake hers, her slender fingers emerging from her sweatshirt sleeve. They wrapped around his and he noticed the chipped, teal nail polish. 

“Shiloh.” 

“Listen, this might be... uh... forward, but I have a bunch of friends over at my house and we’re getting ready to have a big breakfast, would you... would you like to join?” 

Shiloh smiled but shook her head, waving her hand in the air as she gestured around the store. 

“My roommate is around here somewhere and she’s feral until she gets her coffee. We’re headed to the Starbucks down the street and then have to head home so she can change for work and head out.” 

At the mention of coffee, another girl turned the corner. She had black hair that hung down to her waist and the look on her face was clearly filled with annoyance at the sight of her roommate. 

“Shiloh, what are you doing? Let’s go.” 

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” She turned back to Scott as she smiled politely. “And there’s Morganna, right on time. I have to go.” 

Scott quickly asked for her phone number, smiling as she punched the numbers into his phone before running off towards her roommate, who was already headed towards the check-out lanes. Scott looked back at his list and quickly made his way through the rest of the store, wanting to get back home before anyone could worry. 

By the time he got back to his house everyone was already awake and sitting around the dining room table. Almost everyone had coffee in hand, the only exception being Jackson who apparently only drank coffee that had been imported from the Andes Mountains. The Winchesters had called while Scott was away; Sam had convinced Dean to get on a plane, something that was almost more difficult than the monster hunting they did every day. The brothers would be in Beacon Hills by mid-afternoon. Scott heard a phone ring and noticed Chris step out of the room. He focused his listening towards his phone call, realizing quickly it had to be Cameron as the two conversed in fluent French. He knew he should have paid attention more in class. He could basically only ask where the bathroom was in French and that was it. Not even close to enough to understand the rapid conversation happening between Chris and Cameron. Chris stepped back into the room after a few minutes, explaining that their friends had boarded a flight about an hour ago and would be in Beacon Hills by early evening. Cameron wasn’t able to make it but was sending his sister in his place, along with Isaac and Malia. It had been a year since the McCall pack had seen either of the former Beacon Hills residents and everyone was visibly excited. 

With most of the day still ahead before anyone would be arriving, Scott made the decision that everyone head home for a little bit. The Stilinskis and Argents were going to make their homes ready for guests; the McCall house was already full to the brim and couldn’t handle the addition of seven more people. Lydia was in a hurry to get home to Allie, already on the phone with Parrish as she walked out the door. Jackson, Ethan and Aiden were headed back to Jackson’s house, the three of them not too concerned with the arrival of the Winchesters and the French MoL. The only person they even remotely knew was Isaac and he hadn’t exactly left on good terms with any of them. Liam had to do a quick check-in with his parents anyway; they weren’t aware of his supernatural status and thought he was just spending the night at Scott’s after a party. If he didn’t keep them somewhat in the loop on where he was, they worried. He would hate to see how his mom would worry if she knew what Liam was really up to. The two climbed into Theo’s truck and were off, leaving Scott with Tara, who agreed to stay behind. 

“I have to ask,” he started, his eyes glancing over her dark hair and grey eyes, which were identical to her brother’s, “are you a threat to Theo?” 

Tara took a breath and looked at Scott, her eyes sad. “You know, you’re the first person to ask me that since I’ve been back. No, I don’t want to hurt my brother. I always wanted to protect the idiot; I mean, that was my job as big sister, right? I’m not sure why you guys think I’ve come back evil or something. You’re not treating any of the others like that.” 

Scott felt bad then. They had all just assumed that Tara would want to seek revenge on her brother but no one ever bothered to ask or to at least give her a chance to explain. She had shown up in the woods yesterday, alone in the cool, morning air. Her mind was telling her to head towards town, to a house she had never been to before. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t head straight to her own house, but Scott knew: the place had been demolished a few years back to make room for a new roadway. She showed up at the Geyer’s doorstep, surprised when she knocked that her brother was the one to appear. He immediately freaked out, screaming for Liam. The two had her bound and gagged before she even had a chance to explain herself. When they got to the McCall’s, everyone had similar reactions to Theo, leaving her tied up and muted for the entire day. Scott had always been one to trust everyone; he was kicking himself for not giving Tara the same chance. 

“I’m so sorry, Tara. We were all frightened when people started returning. I know Theo wasn’t the only one to think you would try and retaliate against him for your death. I’m sorry for not giving you a chance.” He reached out and took her hand, a soft smile forming on his lips. She smiled back and he was taken aback just by how much she reminded him of Theo. He had already noticed the eyes, but they had the same nose and the same way of making you feel like the scum of the earth with just a single glance. 

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Is there anything I can help with?” 

“Yeah,” she grinned, a light chuckle in her breath, “when did shit get so weird in Beacon Hills?” 

He laughed, a boom that shook the windows in the dining room. 

“I don’t think we have time to get through all of that. How about we just start with me?” 

He went on to explain the story of the last few years: being bitten by the Alpha and his spiral downward as he was forced into the supernatural side of Beacon. Tara listened intently, enthralled with every word out of Scott’s mouth, and the two sat like that the rest of the day, just a boy and a girl, recalling the stories of their childhood, even if those stories were a little bit strange. 

Just a few blocks away, Theo and Liam were making their way back to Liam’s house. As soon as they pulled into the driveway, Liam noticed his mother standing at the doorway, standing on her tip-toes to see exactly when the two would exit out of Theo’s truck. 

“Oh no,” Liam mumbled, his head already hanging as he unbuckled his seat belt and reached for the door. “We’re in trouble.” 

The pair walked towards the house, not even looking at each other as their minds raced as to what they could be in trouble for. While the list was endless, the possibilities which were available to Jenna Geyer were limited. Her eyes lit up as the two stepped onto the porch and she opened the storm door excitedly. 

“I’ve been waiting on you two all morning! Get in here!” 

The two exchanged a glance, even more surprised at Jenna’s chipper mood than they would have been if she had been scolding them. They slipped off their shoes in the doorway, still hesitant to bring down their guard at all. 

“Mom? Is everything ok? Are we... in trouble?” his voice raised in pitch with the last word. Usually when he showed up with Theo in the early morning hours his mom and/or dad had something to say and it wasn’t laced with this happy attitude. 

“No, no, no. You’re not in trouble. Since you two were out of the house all day yesterday, your father and I decided to prepare a little bit of a surprise for you.” Her eyes were excited as she talked about their surprise, motioning them towards the stairs. 

“Liam, cover Theo’s eyes. Make sure he doesn’t peek.” 

For the third time that morning, the two shared a glance. Liam hesitantly placed his hand over Theo’s eyes, interlacing his fingers with Theo’s with his free hand. He still wasn’t entirely convinced that they weren’t in trouble. Jenna bounded up the stairs, motioning for the boys to hurry up as they all set foot on the second-floor landing. She walked them over to the guest room door, which was shut firmly, reaching for the door handle. 

“Now, I know you and Theo sleep in the same bed-- don’t play dumb with me, Liam, of course I know—but your father and I thought he might like some space of his own. I’m sorry David couldn’t be here to see your reaction, but you know how sporadic his schedule at the hospital is. He’s going to be mad I couldn’t wait until later.” 

She opened the door to the guest bedroom then, the inside having been completely redone. The same queen bed sat near the window, but instead of the old, floral covers that had been on it, a dark navy-blue bedspread covered it. A new desk had been placed in the corner and she had found pictures of Theo and Liam to frame and put on top. The antique armoire had been replaced with a smaller dresser, a decorative ‘T’ sitting on top, leaning against the wall. Her face beamed as Liam’s mouth dropped, his hand still covering Theo’s eyes. 

“Let him see, Liam!” 

He removed his hand from over his eyes and Theo had to blink a few times to readjust his vision to the light in the bedroom. His eyes darted across the room, trying to take in everything as quickly as possible. 

“This... this is for me?” 

Jenna was still smiling from ear to ear as she placed a hand on Theo’s back. 

“Welcome to the family, Theo.” 

Liam noticed Theo’s eyes start to fill with tears as he reached over and embraced Jenna in a hug. She laughed, clearly not expecting this reaction from Theo, as she gently patted his back. 

“Go on in! Take a look!” 

Theo slowly walked into the room, his fingers brushing over every surface that he could reach, slowly working his way around the bedroom. 

“Thank you, Mom,” Liam whispered, planting a kiss on the side of his mom’s head as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. 

“Anything for you, baby.” 

She rested her head onto his shoulder as the two watched Theo wander around, pulling open the dresser drawers to find his clothes already washed and neatly folded inside. His school things had already made their way to his desk and bookshelf and his hands brushed over a chemistry book that was sitting on the desk. He walked over to the bed, gently smoothing down the covers before he sat down, his face still in shock. 

“I don’t... I don’t know what to say.” 

Jenna walked into the room and sat down next to Theo, wrapping her arms around him as she kissed his forehead. 

“Just keep it clean and remember to wash the sheets every once in a while, unlike Liam.” 

Theo laughed, his voice catching in his throat as he tried to stifle down sobs. This was the nicest thing anyone had done for him... maybe ever. He couldn’t believe that he was lucky enough for both Liam and his family to love him like they did. He couldn’t believe anyone would want to love him after everything he had done. The two sat in silence for a few seconds, Liam walking over to join them, brushing his lips across Theo’s cheek as he took the boy’s hand in his own. 

“I’ll leave you two be.” 

Jenna stood up and walked out, throwing a loving glance back towards her two sons as she shut the door behind her.


	9. Chapter 9

The Winchesters showed up first, pulling into Beacon Hills a little after three in the afternoon. Everyone was taken aback to see Dean behind the wheel of a Honda Civic, his usual car parked at the airport in Memphis. The elder Winchester was grumpy as he got out of the car, still grumbling about having to leave his Baby behind. Dean was never anywhere without the black ‘67 Impala. Even though the returned had already been through the standard battery of tests, the Winchesters wanted to perform them again. Tara, Laura, Allison and Aiden all stood in a line, first getting doused with holy water before Sam sliced their arm with a silver knife. The front door had a salt line across it and they all took turns crossing back and forth between the porch and the foyer until the Winchesters were satisfied. 

They had only seen people returned from the dead a handful of times, but almost every time magic was involved. They had the McCall pack search the entire house from top to bottom, looking for any kind of hex bag or sigil. They sent groups to all of the places where the returned had first appeared: the Argent house, the Whittemore house and the Stilinskis’, to look for the same. When none were found, they had to completely rethink their strategy, huddled together at the dining room table as they contemplated. 

Pizza was ordered and everyone was sitting around the table when Scott’s phone rang: the members of the French MoL had just landed in LA and would be in Beacon Hills shortly. Everyone was excited to see Isaac, Malia and Celestine, it having been a year since the last time they had seen any of their friends. Allison didn’t tell anyone, but she was nervous to see Isaac. They had been together when she died and she had no idea how he was going to react to seeing her again. Hell, she had no idea how she was going to react. 

The doorbell rang and everyone jumped from their seats. They hadn’t been expecting Celestine and the rest of the crew to be there for a few hours, but, as they all looked at the clock, they realized they had been chatting for well over an hour and a half, the time flying by as they waited. Scott reached the door first and pulled it open to reveal Isaac, a huge grin on his face. He stepped forward and embraced his old friend, his arms wrapping around Scott in a tight hug. Malia’s face appeared behind him and she rushed inside, heading towards Stiles first. Celestine and the two other French agents hung back, wanting Isaac and Malia to get their reunions finished without any interruptions. Scott broke his embrace with Isaac and smiled at Celestine, his eyes frantically going back and forth as he tried to remember the signs for ‘welcome to my home.’ He had been practicing FSL long before he knew the Beachard twin was coming to Beacon Hills. He wanted to be ready whenever he got to see her again but was clearly not doing as well as he hoped. She smiled and pulled out a device: it was just an old-school cellphone that had a keyboard that flipped out, but she could quickly and easily write down her thoughts. She typed a few words and held the screen up to Scott. 

**It’s good to see you, Scott. We miss you. Cameron says hello.**

Scott smiled, motioning for Celestine and the two agents behind her to come inside. 

“I don’t think I met either of you when we were in France. I’m Scott McCall.” He held out his hand and a girl with unruly, curly blonde hair that surrounded her face like a halo. She had thick-rimmed glasses and a smile that took over her entire face. 

“Teagan Laurent.” 

Her voice had almost no trace of an accent on it, which was surprising to Scott. He expected all of the agents to come out of Bordeaux to have the same sounding voice as Armand Beachard, the twins’ dad, whose accent was so thick Scott had a hard time understanding most of the words that came out of his mouth. 

“Nice to meet you, Teagan. And you?” He reached his hand to the other unknown agent, a boy with black hair, a thin nose and whose face hadn’t cracked a smile the entire time they had been in the McCall house. 

“Henri Thomas.” 

There was the accent Scott had been expecting. Henri shook Scott’s hand once, firmly, before dropping it. Scott led all of them into the dining room and the introductions began. He was thankful Teagan took over with the sign language, introducing everyone to Celestine just a few seconds after she learned their names. Celestine nodded with each one, usually signing a few words after finding out who someone was. Scott quickly realized it was their supernatural status, after he saw the sign for ‘wolf’ after Liam was introduced. Celestine gave a quick wave to everyone she had already met in France, having a small conversation with Lydia who, of course, was almost entirely fluent in FSL by now. Introductions complete, the French agents wanted to get down to business. They hadn’t flown half-way across the world just to make small talk. Henri cleared his throat and started in. 

“We’re aware the returned have been passing all of the supernatural tests: silver, holy water, salt, mountain ash. We also know there have been no hex bags or sigils recovered at any location that the returned first showed up. We still believe, however, that we’re dealing with the workings of a witch.” 

“And who was her sister? _A princess_. The Wicked Witch of the East, bro.” Everyone threw a look at Stiles; Derek was the first to smack him on the back of the head, followed quickly by Lydia. 

“Ow! Why? Am I the only one here who goes on the Internet? Jesus.” 

“Right, so... instead of trying to determine who the witch is, maybe we could figure out where you all might have gotten cursed. Do you normally spend all of your time together as a group?” 

Scott looked around the room at his friends. 

“I mean... not really. I spend a lot of time with Stiles and Derek, but I hardly see Liam and Theo anymore since school started. And Jackson and Ethan have been in London all year, except to come home for their wedding.” 

Everyone’s eyes widened as they looked at each other. 

“The wedding! All of us were guests at Jackson and Ethan’s wedding.” 

Celestine smiled as she figured out what was going on, staring at everyone’s lips at an attempt to read them. Her English was really good, but still wasn’t her native language and she had to motion to Teagan several times to get a translation on what was being said. 

“A wedding. Excellent. I know it’s not much to go on, but it at least limits our suspect pool to those who were in attendance. Jackson, Ethan, you do have a list of guests and staff for the night, correct?” 

“Of course,” Jackson muttered, the annoyance on his face obvious. “I wasn’t going to just let anybody show up to my wedding. Invite only on the guests and background checks on the staff, no exceptions.” 

“Alright, Jackson, we’re going to need those lists.” 

The group pooled over the guest and staff lists for the wedding but there wasn’t one name that jumped out to any of them. In fact, most of the people on the list were longtime residents of Beacon Hills and were already well known by at least one member of the group. They narrowed it down to about a dozen names; those staff members who no one could really recognize. Scott scanned the list again and his eyes fell towards one: Morganna Burke. He had a flash in his mind of being at the grocery store that morning and seeing a girl with long, black hair. He pointed at the name. 

“Her. I think I know her. I’m not sure of her last name but there can't be that many Morgannas in this town, right? I... I saw her at the grocery store this morning with her roommate. She’s on the list, too: Shiloh McCarthy. This Morganna girl was... different. I thought it was maybe just because it was early in the morning but I think it might have been something else.” 

“Well, can you get a hold of her?” 

“No, but I can get ahold of the roommate. Maybe she could tell us something.” The group nodded as Scott reached for his phone. He didn’t say it but he was kind of excited to talk to Shiloh again, even if her roommate did turn out to be a psycho necromancer. After a few back-and-forth messages, they had agreed to meet for coffee. Scott was going to try and get as much information about Morganna from her as he could. Allison reached for Scott’s hand under the table, gently grabbing his fingers as she smiled at him. He felt guilty then for wanting to hang out with Shiloh. He had gotten so used to Allison being gone that he still wasn’t used to the fact that she was back. He also had no idea what was happening with them: were they back together? Was she even going to be around that much longer? He shuddered at the thought of losing her again, gripping tighter onto her hand. 

It was close to midnight when they decided they needed to be done for the night. Stiles was asleep on Derek’s shoulder, his mouth opened wide as he snored. Teagan had her head rested on the table; Scott was surprised any of the French agents were still standing, they had been awake for about thirty hours at this point. Allison, Isaac and Malia were going to stay at Scott’s; Teagan, Henri and Celestine would join Chris Argent at his home; Tara and Laura were going to go home with Derek and Stiles. Theo and Liam had been invited to join at the Stilinskis’ but decided to make their back to their own house; the same was going for the twins and Jackson. Derek pulled Stiles up, gently shaking him and placing a kiss onto the side of his head. Isaac stopped him as they got to the door, leaning in close as he watched Laura and Tara walk down the sidewalk to the Jeep. 

“So... uh... what’s up with your sister?” 

Derek’s head whipped around, his eyebrows raising as made a face at Isaac. 

“Really, dude? Really?” 

“No, you’re right I’ll just... ask later.” 

Derek growled quietly, not wanting to disturb the still sleeping Stiles on his shoulder. 

“Or never. I will ask never.” 

It didn’t make it past him, though, that Laura Hale stopped, turning her head ever so slightly back towards the door, a small grin forming on her face. Isaac smiled and turned back into the house, hurrying to claim the guest bedroom before Malia could. 

After piling Stiles into the Jeep, they were headed off towards the Stilinskis’ house. The sheriff was already home, his squad car sitting quietly in the driveway. Tara took off towards the living room, eager to get back to her journey through all of Netflix. She had a lot to catch up on. Laura looked at Derek, asking with only her eyes if he needed help getting Stiles up the stairs towards their bedroom. Derek shook his head, motioning for the living room. Laura smiled and put her hand on her brother’s shoulder, whispering ‘good night’ as she turned the other direction. 

Derek pushed open the bedroom door with his shoulder, gently setting Stiles onto the bed. He kicked his shoes off and walked over to the dresser, looking for something to sleep in. He heard Stiles mumble as he rolled over, his eyes slowly opening as he woke up. 

“How... we... we’re home?” Derek laughed softly as he unzipped his jeans, letting them fall to the floor as he kicked them in the general direction of the laundry basket. 

“Yeah, we’re home. I managed to get your heavy ass out of Scott’s house and back here.” 

“Wow, just wow. Last I checked you happened to love this heavy ass. I guess no more for you, then.” 

“No, no, no, that’s not how this works.” 

He crawled into the bed next to Stiles, leaning in to plant a kiss on Stiles’s lips. He smiled mid-kiss, breaking their lips apart for a brief moment. He lifted his head up slightly, looking into Stiles’s eyes before kissing him again. Stiles was fully awake then, running his fingers through Derek’s dark hair as his other hand moved from Derek’s chest to the waistband of his boxers. Derek pulled away, leaving Stiles sitting with his eyes closed, lips pursed in the air, still locked in an invisible kiss. Derek grinned and lowered his head, kissing Stiles’s neck as he worked on getting off the fourteen layers of clothing that Stiles always seemed to have on. Who needed a flannel underneath another flannel, anyway? He finally got to the last one, bringing his mouth to Stiles’s body again, Stiles moaning as his fingers skimmed through Derek’s hair, pulling lightly. He pressed his hips into his, feeling the heat rise where the skin met. 

“I love you, Derek,” Stiles purred, sending shivers down the wolf’s spine. He smiled and brought himself back up to Stiles’s face, reaching out his hand and stroking one finger down his jawline. His thumb brushed Stiles’s lips. Stiles bit onto the tip of it gently before kissing it, his hand reaching out to guide Derek’s hands where he wanted to be touched. He closed his eyes as Derek buried his face in his neck, his beard scratchy against the smooth skin. 

“Have you thought anymore about what I said?” 

Stiles froze, his hands that were on Derek lifting up ever so slightly, hanging in the air just above his body. He swallowed hard. 

“Uh, about getting the Jeep looked at? You’re right, she does sound a little funny.” He shook his head and squinted his eyes closed. Derek always knew when he was lying; it wasn’t even a believable lie in the first place. 

Derek stopped, his head lifting from Stiles’s neck. He locked eyes with Stiles, his eyebrows crinkled together and his mouth forming invisible words. 

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about. Do you... do you not want to marry me, Stiles?” 

Stiles started to answer and stopped; his words caught in his throat. He took a breath and closed his eyes, shaking his head as if to shake out the thoughts that were getting jumbled. His eyes shot open as he realized the motion to simply clear his thoughts could be perceived as an answer to his question. 

“No, no, that’s not what I meant.” 

“So, you do want to marry me?” 

“No! I mean... it’s complicated, Derek.” 

“Stiles, you aren’t answering me. Just tell me whether or not you want to be with me.” 

“Of course, I want to be with you!” 

“Then why won’t you answer me?” 

Stiles couldn’t tell if Derek was angry or not. His face always had a look on it that screamed ‘rage’ but his voice was calm and collected. He starred at Stiles, his eyes racing over the details of his face as his body still hovered over him. 

“Stiles. Do you want to marry me? Yes or no.” 

“No, okay? No.” 

Derek’s face fell as he shifted back, rolling and lying next to Stiles on the bed before quickly standing up. He was silent as he dug through the dresser drawers, quickly grabbing a t-shirt and throwing it on. He reached for his jeans, which sat next to the laundry basket, just as Stiles jumped out of the bed and grabbed him by the forearm. 

“Derek, no. Where are you going? You can’t leave. At least give me a chance to explain myself.” 

“Stiles, I’m just... I’m going downstairs, ok? I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.” 

He grabbed his pants and walked out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him as Stiles sat back down on the bed in disbelief. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to marry Derek, it was that he wasn’t sure he even wanted to get married at all. Sure, his parents’ marriage had worked out up until Claudia Stilinski got sick, but how many of the rest of his friends had parents that were still together? The McCalls? Divorced. The Martins? Divorced. The Dunbars? Divorced. The Laheys? Divorced. He didn’t know what it was about the concept of marriage but it seemed to tear more people apart than it did bring them together. He wasn’t about to lose Derek over a ring and a hyphenated last name. But he hadn’t said any of that to Derek. Instead, he just said no. ‘No’ could mean anything. No—I won’t marry you because I don’t love you. No—I won’t marry you because I’ve found someone else. Neither of those things were true; there would never be anyone else for Stiles besides his sourwolf. He smacked himself on the head, the sharp sound of skin-on-skin echoing in his empty room. He laid back down on the bed, knowing full well that he wasn’t going to be getting any sleep that night.


	10. Chapter 10

Isaac woke up early the next morning, the soft sheets of the guestroom bed hugging his body as he had curled himself into a Lahey burrito. He couldn’t remember the last time he was able to stay in bed past sunrise. He closed his eyes against the glaring sun streaming in through the window, the dark hair and green eyes of Laura Hale coming to his mind. He stretched and buried himself in the covers, not wanting to leave the warmth. He heard a knock at the door and groaned. He shouldn’t have thought so hard about not wanting to get out of bed. The door opened slowly and he saw Allison’s face creep in, a coffee mug in hand. 

“I hope I didn’t wake you. I brought coffee. I thought we could talk.” 

He nodded and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He took the cup from Allison and he felt a shiver go down his spine as they brushed hands. 

“I still can’t... I can’t believe you’re really here.” 

“Me either. I’m trying to enjoy it while I can, though.” She smiled softly, her face quickly falling back to worry. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, tears coming to her eyes as she looked at Isaac. 

“For what? What could you possibly have to be sorry for?” 

“You know... for dying. For leaving you.” 

Isaac placed his coffee cup on the bedside table and took both of Allison’s hands in his own, surprised at just how warm they were. 

“It’s not your fault. How could it have possibly been your fault? We all knew what we were getting into.” He lifted one of his hands and wiped a tear that had started to fall down Allison’s cheek. She tilted her head and rested it into his palm, turning so she could gently brush her lips across his hand. She looked him into the eyes and smiled, a simple weak turn of the lips. It was her smile that made him remember; her smile that made him forget all about the flash Laura Hale that had crossed his mind just that morning. 

“God, I missed you, I missed you so much.” 

He leaned forward and covered her mouth with his own, surprised that she still felt and tasted exactly the same as the Allison he remembered. She took a breath in; she was surprised by the kiss, but didn’t turn away. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling her body closer into his. She kissed him again, her mouth opening as she gently let her tongue touch his. They continued to kiss until they were out of breath, Allison pulling away and resting her forehead onto Isaac’s. 

“We shouldn’t do this,” she whispered, her hands working their way into Isaac’s curly hair. “There’s everything happening with Scott and... I don’t even know how long I’m going to be able to stay—if I’m able to stay at all.” 

“Then we better make it count, yeah?” 

A mischievous grin covered his face as he pulled her down onto the bed, his hands running along her back as she lay on top of him. He could feel her heart skip a beat as his hands ran under her shirt, pulling the camisole off of her with one swipe of his hand. She gasped as he put his mouth on her neck, her head rolling back to expose more skin. He flipped her over so his body was hovering over hers, just enough space between the two so their skin wasn’t touching. He nipped at the base of her throat, working his way down until his mouth sat in the middle of her chest. She grinned and slipped her bra off, laying it down next to her on the bed. He took one breast in his mouth and then the other, his tongue flicking over her nipples as she gasped. He reached down and slipped his hand into her shorts, pulling at the waistband to rip them off of her body. She kicked them off and leaned forward, her mouth now being the one to explore Isaac’s body. She kissed his chest and licked at his abs, looking him into the eyes as her tongue skimmed over his skin. They kissed again and Isaac was sure his heart was going to beat right out of his chest as she reached down and took him in her hands. He let himself get lost for a second before he worked his way out of her grasp, lowering his head and kissing along her hip bones down to the inside of her thigh. 

“I love you,” he whispered against her skin, almost hoping she wouldn’t hear the words he said. 

“You... you what?” Allison was out of breath but worked herself into a sitting position, leaning her body back onto her elbows. “Did you just say you loved me?” 

“No,” Isaac started, resting his mouth against the silky fabric of her underwear, feeling the heat beneath his lips. “Loved is past tense. Since I’m loving you in the present, I went with ‘I love you.’” 

Allison stared at him, her face in shock but a smile still forming over her lips. 

“Say it again,” she whispered, her eyes darting across every inch of Isaac’s face. He slowly crawled his way up until they were parallel again. 

“I,” he kissed her right cheek, “love,” he kissed her left cheek, “you,” with the final word he kissed her mouth, a sea of giggles rising from it. She took his face in her hands, her brown eyes staring into his big blue ones. 

“And I love you.” They both smiled and attempted to kiss again but their teeth got in the way, their lips had a hard time forming to each other's as they grinned from ear to ear. Isaac laughed and kiss her cheek, laying down next to her on the bed. The both stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, letting the words sink into their brains and bodies. Allison turned to Isaac then, a grin on her face as she grazed his earlobe with her teeth. 

“Do you think that means you’re done now, sir?” she whispered, her hand sliding down Isaac’s chest. 

“No, ma’am, it does not.” 

His face lowered back down to her lap and the two continued with their reunion. Isaac hadn’t had much practice during the time he was in France. He did have a brief fling with an agent named Jade, but then he spent most of his time pining over Celestine Beachard before he managed to figure out she had a girlfriend and would not be reciprocating the feelings he had for her. He had been considering pursuing Malia, but, now that he knew Cameron had a thing for her, he definitely wouldn’t be. Allison didn’t seem to notice his lack of experience—or mind. The two took turns on who was in charge: Isaac preferred being in a position where he could still see Allison’s face; Allison liked it better when he was behind her. Isaac was caught off guard when her moans quickened and her body began to shake, her fingers gripping the bed posts with so much force he thought they would crack-- he didn’t even know he was capable of giving a woman an orgasm, let alone a goddess like Allison Argent. It only took a few seconds after for Isaac to finish, his breath heavy as he leaned his head against her back. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible to get a zombie pregnant. Is that what Allison was now? A zombie? He shook the thought from his head and pulled her closer as the two laid back down. They sighed contently, holding each other in their arms, their hearts and bodies content, at least for the next few hours. 

Scott watched as Allison knocked on the guest bedroom door, heard her give morning greetings to Isaac before the door shut. He heard the hushed words of their conversation and heard the sound of two steady heartbeats quickly turn into two rushed, pounding heartbeats. He shouldn’t have been surprised that the two would pick up right where they left off, but he had still been holding onto the hope that Allison had returned for him. That he was getting a second chance at his first love. He sighed as he went down the stairs, desperately trying to ignore the sounds that were coming from the guest bedroom as he walked by. He checked his phone and realized he was going to be late meeting Shiloh if he didn’t get a move on. 

Malia was already awake and sitting at the kitchen table with Melissa, telling her the stories of everything that had happened in France over the past year. Melissa noticed her eyes light up when she talked about Cameron Beachard but didn’t try to pry into Malia’s personal life, as much as she wanted to. Scott greeted them both warmly as he walked into the kitchen, searching the counters for the car keys. Melissa pointed near the sink and Scott found them under a glass, pushed against the counter wall. He muttered thanks and headed out the door, the driveway much emptier than it had been the day before. The Starbucks was just around the corner from Taylor’s grocery store. Scott was thankful they were going inside, as the line for the drive-thru was wrapped around the entire building... twice. He quickly spotted Shiloh in the corner. Her eyes lit up as he entered the café and she waved before getting up and joining Scott near the counter. 

“Hi! I haven’t ordered anything yet; I was waiting on you. What do you normally get?” 

“Uh... well... I don’t normally frequent Starbucks so I’m not really sure.” 

“Do you mind if I order for you? I have a knack for guessing what someone’s coffee order is.” 

“Sure! Go right ahead. You know what you’re doing more than me, that’s for sure.” 

Shiloh ordered a double shot on ice for herself and something called a flat white for Scott. She looked at him up and down before turning back to the barista. “Put a few pumps of vanilla in that for me, would you, Olivia?” The barista nodded and added a few more letters onto the order on the outside of the cup before passing it on to her coworkers to make the coffee. Even though Shiloh ordered, Scott insisted on paying, throwing the only twenty he had in his wallet onto the counter. It was only a few minutes before their coffees were done and they went back to sit in the corner that Scott found Shiloh in when he first got there. 

“So, how are you this morning?” 

“I’m doing great! Worked the night shift last night so I haven’t slept a whole lot, but that’s what the coffee is for, isn’t it?” She took a swig and Scott could tell then that his wasn’t her first cup of coffee for the morning. Caffeine surged through her veins and he could hear the palpitations of her heart as it tried to keep up with the energy it was being force-fed. 

“I’m really glad you texted; it was nice to hear from you.” 

“Yeah! For sure, I just, you know, thought it would be nice to get to know each other.” Shiloh smiled and took another drink of her coffee, motioning for Scott to do the same. He had been waiting for it to cool down but put the cup to his lips, sure his tongue would heal in just a few seconds as the scalding coffee covered it. Shiloh’s face was anxious as she waited for a response. 

“Wow! That’s... that’s actually great.” Scott’s smile covered his entire face; she genuinely did have a knack for knowing coffee orders. She beamed and set her coffee down, crossing one leg over the other as she settled into her seat. 

“Shiloh, I... I’m going to be honest. I really do want to get to know you, I do! But I actually texted you because I needed to ask you about your roommate.” 

The smile faded from her face as her eyes quickly moved from Scott’s face towards the table in front of them. She took a breath and picked her face back up, a small smile crossing her lips. He could tell it was fake even without hearing the sounds of her heartbeat skipping. 

“Sure! Morganna. What do you need to know?” 

“Is s-she...” Scott stuttered a bit as he tried to think of the words he wanted to say. Did he really think he could just come out and ask if her roommate was a psychotic witch who was bringing people back from the dead? “Is she... into anything weird?” 

“Is that... is that like a sex question?” 

“NO!” A few people turned to look at Scott, his outburst reaching the far end of the café as the barista who had waited on them looked over the counter in their direction. “I mean, no, of course not. I just mean... is she into horror movies? Or like the supernatural?” 

“Oh, Morganna loves that stuff! She’s a huge horror movie buff. Are you trying to ask her out or something? You know, I thought I did feel something when you two saw each other at the grocery the other day.” 

It was Scott’s turn to be confused; he was pretty sure Morganna hadn’t even looked at him when he ran into them the other morning. Giving him an easy explanation for his weirdness, though, he went with it. 

“Yes! That’s it! I... I wanted to ask her out. But I thought I’d get you to tell me a little bit about her first. You know, uh, help me have the upper hand.” 

“That’s so cute! She hasn’t been on a date in forever. Ok, so, first thing’s first, she's a Scorpio. I know, I know, she’s controlling and secretive but she’s so loyal and so, so smart. She’s taking classes now to be a crime scene investigator on top of working all the time, it’s incredible. Uhm... her favorite movie is that old zombie movie from the 70s. She’s forced me to watch it like 17 times, says it’s a cinematic masterpiece. Uh... she’s a Wiccan. Really into nature and the healing forces of magic.” 

“Magic? Like... real magic?” 

Shiloh laughed, tucking her lips into her mouth quickly as she tried to quell the outburst. 

“I mean... she thinks it’s real. It’s her spirituality so I don’t want to say anything too bad about it. That’s not my place to judge someone about what they believe in.” 

“Right, no, we wouldn’t want to do that. I mean, I know there’s stuff I believe in that people would think I was crazy over.” He chuckled to himself; wasn’t that the fucking truth? 

“You’re a sweet guy, Scott,” Shiloh placed her hand over his, smiling gently. “I think Morganna will really like you. Tonight, when I see her, I’ll be sure to put in a good word. Do you want her number or do you want me to have her text you?” 

Scott was still focused on her hand lying on top of his. Sometime in the last day she had found the time to paint her fingernails; the chipped, teal color was gone and had been replaced with a fiery red. His eyes followed her arm up to her face, noticing that her lipstick was the same crimson hue. He stared at her lips just a little too long, Shiloh noticing and moving her head down to force eye contact. 

“Scott? Are you ok?” 

Scott shook his head, forcing a smile to his face as he looked back at her. 

“Yeah! Yeah, just got caught in my thoughts there for a second. Uh, sure, I’ll take her number.” Shiloh typed the digits into his phone, smiling the entire time. Scott could feel his chest getting heavy; he had probably ruined the only chance he had with this girl by telling her he was interested in her roommate. A tickle came to his throat and he coughed, taken aback by the minute flicks of red that landed on his hand. He supposed his tongue had started to bleed from the coffee that was entirely too hot to be drinking. “I should probably get going,” he started, putting his phone into his pocket as he stood up. 

“So soon?” 

“Yeah, I, uh, forgot that I have... an event... to go to. It was really nice to see you, Shiloh. I hope we can do this again sometime.” He genuinely meant the last part, reaching for her hand and gently brushing his fingers over the back of it as he started to turn away. She smiled and nodded eagerly. He turned towards the door and quickly walked out. Although he may have ruined his chances with the girl, the coffee date overall was a success: Morganna was into magic and they were one step closer to figuring out who their witch was and what exactly she wanted. 

He walked back out to his mom’s Neon, a coughing fit starting again. He covered his mouth with his arm, unable to catch his breath as the coughing continued. It finally stopped; Scott had tears in his eyes and he noticed that the blood from before was back, only this time in much larger quantities. Panicked, he got into the car, starting to dial his mom’s number when he started to cough again. The taste of blood filled his mouth and he could hear the faint sound of Melissa answering her phone before he passed out.


	11. Chapter 11

Liam knew something was wrong as soon as he opened his eyes. He could hear Theo’s steady breathing next to him but it was shallow and sounded like something was rattling in his chest. Werewolves didn’t get colds. He shook him awake. Theo’s grey eyes were still full of sleep as they opened, a stark contrast to the paleness of his face. 

“Theo, do you feel ok?” 

“I’m fine,” Theo coughed, “I just... allergies...” 

“Yeah, that wasn’t even a complete sentence. Besides, you a werewolf, I’m like 95% sure that means your allergies are gone.” 

“But there’s still... 15%.” Theo threw a pair of finger guns in Liam’s direction, his hands slowing falling back to the bed, almost like they were too heavy for his arms to keep up. 

“You... are not that bad at math. And I’ve never seen you do a finger gun in my entire life. Something’s wrong. Come on.” He reached for Theo’s arm to pull him out of bed but stopped, dropping the appendage and letting it fall back onto the sheets. He didn’t realize how he could have missed it. Bruises ran up and down Theo’s arm, the skin looking black in some places. Liam knew they had been rough the night before, but it couldn’t have caused this. Besides, any bruises that did happen from nighttime activities healed themselves by morning; Liam knew from experience when he freaked out over the first hickey Theo gave him, yelling about how he was supposed to explain it to his parents. Turns out he didn’t have to worry, it was gone in just a few hours. 

“Dad? Dad?!” Liam’s voice grew panicked as he started to shout. He heard footsteps coming down the hallway but he could tell by the lightness that they weren’t from his dad. He managed to unlock the door, swinging it open to reveal Jenna Geyer, her hand still posed in the air mid-knock. 

“Liam, baby? What’s wrong?” 

He pointed to Theo in the bed, who had already fallen back asleep. Jenna could hear the struggle in his breathing, noticed the bruising on his arm before she could even step into the room. 

“David? David! Get in here!” 

Liam’s dad suddenly appeared in the doorway, his eyes full of panic as they scanned over his son first and then back to his wife. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?” 

“It’s Theo, Dad. He’s sick. But he wasn’t sick yesterday; it’s like it just came on all of a sudden.” 

“Look at his arm,” Liam heard his mother whisper, David already rushing to the bedside, his fingers sitting over Theo’s wrist to check his pulse. His eyes worked his way up his arm, gently moving the appendage around to get a better look at the bruising. He rested the back of his hand on Theo’s forehead, quickly pulling back. 

“He’s burning up. I think we need to take him to the hospital.” 

Liam’s face grew pale and his breathing started to quicken. He reached out a hand for his mother, his fingertips only grazing the side of her arm before his body was down. He hit the ground with a loud thud, causing his mother to scream as she raced down to the floor next to him. He had sat up almost immediately, wrapping his hands around his knees as he lowered his head into the space between them, attempting to take deeper breaths. It was a panic attack, he got them all the time, and he knew he needed to slow his breathing. 

“David, please, do something.” Jenna was panicked, her eyes wide as she held onto her son tightly, her fingers digging into his skin. David took a step away from Theo and lowered himself to the ground, squatting just in front of Liam as he gently laid a hand onto his son’s arm. 

“Liam, Liam look at me. He’s going to be fine, ok? It’s probably just a severe case of the flu. There’s nothing to worry about. Theo is young and in great shape, his body just needs a little help right now to get better, ok? Liam. I need you to tell me you understand.” 

“Just help him, Dad, please. He looks... he looks so bad. Dad, I can’t lose him, please. I... I love him.” David’s face softened as he gripped onto Liam’s arm a little tighter, giving him a reassuring squeeze. 

“I know you do. And that’s why I’m going to do everything I can to get him better, ok? But we need to get him to the hospital first. He’ll get the help he needs there. Can you help me?” 

Liam nodded slowly and his parents helped get him to his feet. He walked back over to the bed, Theo still sleeping soundly, his lips quivering slightly as he drew in a ragged breath. Liam, hands shaking, gripped Theo underneath the arms, pulling him into a sitting position. He knelt down and put Theo’s left arm over his shoulder, slowly working him out of the bed. David came over and swing Theo’s legs out, setting his feet firmly on the floor. Still holding his arm across his shoulders, Liam turned to Theo, whose eyes were struggling to open. He pressed his face against the side of Theo’s head, his lips resting just above his ear. 

“Theo, baby, we have to get up. Can you get up for me?” 

Theo turned his head and looked at him, nodding a few times before turning back to look straight ahead. David sat on the other side of Theo’s body, swinging his right arm over his shoulder. 

“On the count of three, Liam. One, two--” 

“Three!” 

Using the strength he had left, Theo flung himself up before the others could get to three, practically pulling Liam and David up by their heads. 

“Goddammit, Theo. Every time.” 

A weak smirk crossed over Theo’s lips. “Just have to keep you... on your toes, babe.” He had to take a breath mid-sentence, his lungs running out of air before he could even get a few words out. Liam threw a panicked look at his dad, who just motioned towards the door. The three of them slowly made their way down the stairs, Jenna going down first, prepared to catch any of them should they fall, although she wouldn’t be strong enough to handle any of them, especially not the dead weight of Theo if he were to be dropped. They gently got Theo into the backseat of David’s car, Liam pressing a kiss onto the side of his head as they sat him down and buckled him in. He quickly ran to the other side of the car, sliding into the backseat next to Theo, grabbing his hand. 

“You’re going to get better, Theo. You have to. If you don’t, I’ll find a way to bring you back so I can kill you again myself.” 

Theo laughed weakly, but it still caused him to go into a coughing fit. Liam gripped tighter onto his hand. He wasn’t really the praying type, but he couldn’t help but notice the words flying through his head over and over. ‘Please, God, let Theo be okay. Please, I’m begging.’ 

They managed to get Theo into the emergency room, David immediately recommending that they admit him into the hospital and not even bother using up a room in the ER. A small team of nurses quickly took all of his vital signs, one nurse even repeating his temperature when the thermometer read 109*. She blamed it on a faulty machine, quickly making her way out of the room to get another. All of the nurses had attempted to get Liam out of the room but he refused to leave Theo’s side; David had to insist his son be allowed to stay, as long as he stayed out of the way. The nurse returned with a new thermometer; this one still read 109*. The entire team went into a slight panic, looking to Dr. Geyer to see what to do next. His face grew concerned but he pulled it together; he didn’t want Liam to see. 

“We need to get this fever down, now.” 

The team managed to get his temperature down to a cool 100*, covering his body in ice packs and having Liam feed him ice chips, but they still weren’t able to explain the bruising, which wasn’t going away. Liam wished more than anything that he could tell his dad about what was really going on—some of his symptoms might be easier to explain if David knew Theo was a werewolf. While a 109* fever was enough to put a human into a coma and give them brain damage, Theo was still awake, just groggy. David couldn’t believe it, talking about how it was a miracle Theo was even still alive. 

“We’re going to run some tests, figure out what’s going on, ok, Liam? Theo’s going to be just fine.” 

“Yeah, look at me: I’m the picture of health!” 

Liam rolled his eyes at Theo; the latter had a nasal cannula to help oxygen get to his lungs, was still under a blanket of ice packs and half of his body was covered in deep, dark bruises. Liam could feel himself starting to calm down, though. Theo already looked better than he did when they had been at home. Still holding onto his hand, he reached into his pocket for his phone. He realized he hadn’t gotten in contact with Scott or Stiles to let them know what was happening. It was already almost ten; he figured Scott would be done with his coffee date with the witch’s roommate. He dialed his number and was confused when Malia was the one to pick up the phone. 

“Did I... did I dial the wrong number? I meant to call Scott.” 

“No, this is Scott’s phone. Where are you? Can you get over here soon?” 

“Not really, I’m at the hospital with Theo. He’s really sick.” 

He heard Malia mutter ‘shit,’ as the phone shuffled to someone else. 

“Liam? Is that your name? You need to get to the McCall house, now.” 

Dean Winchester’s voice was low and ragged, an air of authority to it that Liam didn’t appreciate. 

“No.” 

“What do you mean ‘no?’ Listen here you little puppy dog mother fu--” 

The phone was ripped away from him before he could finish his sentence, although Liam heard the end of it just fine. Didn’t really need supernatural hearing to do that. 

“Hi, Liam? I’m sorry about my brother,” Sam Winchester’s voice was much more soothing. The fact he was so calm helped put Liam a little bit at ease. “I heard Malia mention the hospital, are you okay?” 

“I’m fine, it’s my boyf—it's Theo. He woke up really sick this morning. The doctors don’t know what’s wrong. I don’t either; he was fine last night.” 

“Listen, Theo’s not the only one.” 

Liam felt his hand grip Theo’s tightly, his heart sailing to his throat as it started to quicken. 

“What do you mean he’s not the only one?” 

“Scott and Derek. Scott went out for coffee with that girl but started coughing up blood. He passed out in his car and we had to go get him from the coffee shop. Derek woke up with a fever and all these... I guess you can call them bruises all over his body. It really looks more like... his skin is dying, if that makes sense.” 

Liam’s teeth clenched together as his eyes wandered over to Theo’s arm, the black and blue discoloring of his skin jumping out against the white hospital bed sheets. 

“Theo is the same. Fever, coughing, bruises. He has all of that.” 

“Ok, Liam? We need you to get to the McCall house.” 

“No. I’m not leaving Theo here alone.” 

Sam’s hand covered the phone and Liam could hear him mumbling to those around him. 

“Ok, that’s... that’s fine. We’re going to send Celestine and Isaac over to you. What hospital and what room?” 

Liam told Sam all of the details and hung up the phone. He quickly looked at Theo to make sure he was still doing ok as he brought his hand up to his mouth to kiss it. 

“Come on, I’m sick, can’t you do better than some patronizing hand kiss?” 

Liam stared back at Theo; his face not amused at all with his humor. 

“Fine, but, if you get me sick too, I’m going to sue. And it’s not patronizing, it’s endearing.” Theo chuckled as Liam brought his face to his, kissing him once on the mouth before starting to pull away. Theo groaned and Liam stopped, bringing his face back down and parting his lips. He felt Theo gasp after only a few seconds and pulled up, resting his forehead onto Theo’s, his eyes still closed. 

“Please,” he whispered, “get better.” 

“I will. I promise,” Theo whispered back. The two boys sat in silence, listening to the sounds of the hospital machinery as the minutes ticked by. They were both holding onto each other like their lives depended on it as they waited for Celestine and Isaac to arrive.


	12. Chapter 12

Derek and Scott only looked a tiny bit better than Theo. Their skin was pale, bruises forming up and down their extremities and their chests rattled with dry coughs. Jackson had brought Ethan and Aiden over to Scott’s house, his husband looking just as bad as the other three wolves. 

“What’s happening?” Allison’s voice was panicked as she stood behind Scott, her hands resting on his shoulders, keeping him sitting up-right in a dining room chair. Derek was laying on the couch, Stiles and Laura next to him, both with worried looks on their faces. Melissa saw chaos every day that she worked in the emergency room, but this was different. It was different when every single person she loved was in the same room, either sick or worried to death. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to reach her Zen. 

“All of these boys need to go to the hospital. Now. Let’s figure out how we’re going to do that.” 

Laura and Stiles carried Derek to the Jeep, Tara following quickly behind. They pushed him into the passenger seat and struggling to get his seatbelt fastened. Laura and Tara climbed in through the driver’s seat, working their way over the center console to get into the back. The four of them took off, Stiles driving much too fast. Aiden and Jackson were planning on taking Ethan but had no idea how to work his now-limp body into the backseat of the Porshe. Chris threw them the keys to his Tahoe and the three of them were out the door. 

“Scott, honey, do you think you could walk to the car?” 

Scott nodded, not very convincingly, but stood up with an arm from Allison keeping him steady. The two were followed by Chris and Melissa to Melissa’s Neon, the four of them piling into the car. Melissa’s hands were shaking as she attempted to put the keys in the ignition. They fell to the ground with a clatter as she yelled out. 

“Melissa, let me do it.” Chris placed his hand over Melissa’s and she just nodded, the two of them quickly getting out of the car and switching places. 

Scott, Ethan and Derek were immediately admitted into the hospital, conveniently in rooms just down the hall from Theo, and a barrage of tests started being performed. All of them were still awake, Scott being the most coherent out of the group. Derek’s O2 saturation had already fallen low enough that he required supplemental oxygen. How could it have gotten this bad, this quickly? The four boys had been perfectly fine the night before; more than fine in Theo’s case from what Melissa could gather from Liam. Lydia had made it to the hospital within seconds of Allison calling her and was standing in Scott’s room chatting with Melissa. It was the first time she had left Derek’s room, reluctantly leaving Stiles with the Hales. She remembered the time when someone had weaponized canine distemper to use against the werewolves and asked Melissa if there was any way it could be that again. 

“Maybe,” Melissa started, “although I find it odd that only certain werewolves were affected. Liam, Parrish and Jackson seem just fine. Although, I guess Jackson is more reptile than canine....” Her voice trailed off as she continued to think but she quickly came back and turned to Lydia. “I think we should call Deaton.” 

Alan Deaton was the local veterinarian, but the pack had found out quickly that he did a bit more than take care of sick cats and dogs. His managed to do whatever he could to help out the werewolves in the town whenever he had the chance. He was at the hospital within a matter of minutes, somehow beating Sam, Dean, Malia, Henri and Teagan, who were going to do a little bit of research before leaving the McCall house. Stiles hoped it meant they were following a promising lead. 

“Dr. Deaton, thanks so much for getting here so fast.” 

“Of course, Melissa. Anything for Scott, you know that. And, please, you can call me Alan.” Deaton’s voice was quiet, having a calming affect over everyone who heard him speak. Developed over years and years of taking care of sick animals, Melissa couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he knew exactly how to talk to werewolves in a time of crisis, too. He grabbed a few things out of his bag and examined each wolf one by one, starting with Scott. Eyes, ears, nose, throat were all checked and, with each room he stepped in to, his brows became more and more furrowed. The last person he examined was Ethan, and most of the group was now huddled in his room as they waited to hear what Deaton had to say. The only exceptions were Liam, Stiles and Allison, who all refused to leave the sides of Theo, Derek and Scott. They all knew Melissa would be more than capable of relaying all the information back to them. 

“I’m going to be honest, guys, I have no idea what’s happening to any of them. There doesn’t seem to be any cause, just a variety of symptoms. I would guess a virus, although whether it’s supernatural or not, I really can’t say. I’ve never seen a human virus move so quickly so I tend to believe it’s something supernatural, but it’s not anything I’ve ever seen before. I’m sorry.” 

Melissa patted his arm and thanked him for coming. Even if they hadn’t gotten the answers they wanted, the entire group still appreciated Deacon coming out to help. The group split between the four rooms again: Tara went back to her brother’s room, Melissa, Isaac and Chris went back to Scott, Laura, Lydia and Celestine went back to Stiles, and Jackson and Aiden stayed with the other Steiner twin. Melissa made her way over to Theo’s room eventually, giving them the same rundown that she had just given Scott and Allison. She rubbed her palm against Liam’s back; she couldn’t help but want to mother the kid, especially as she looked at him now, worried to death that something was going to happen to the love of his life. She kissed the side of his head and got up to leave. She swung the door open and was surprised to find Sam Winchester on the other side of the door, his hand still mid-air in the progress of knocking. His face was grim and she could feel her stomach turn as she looked at him. 

“Why do I have a feeling you’re not here to bring good news?” 

The Winchester brothers and French agents spread themselves out amongst the four rooms, all having the same story to tell. Their worry that magic was involved had been confirmed when they found out that four boys had gotten sick; the same number as those that had returned. It hadn’t taken them long to find the correct binding spell. Somehow at the wedding, each of them had been slipped this elixir, tying them to one of the returned. 

“Ok, great, how do we reverse it? Curses have reverses, right?” 

Lydia was optimistic but still hounded Dean Winchester like he had something to hide. 

“That’s the bad news,” Sam started. He and Teagan were in Theo’s room, filling in that group on the spell that had caused their friends to fall ill. “They’re sick because the returned are taking their life forces. If we break the bond, the returned will all go back to their natural state of being. They’ll uh... you know....” 

“We’ll die,” interjected Tara, her voice deadpan and her expression grim. “If you break the bond that’s giving us the energy to live, then we’ll die.” 

“Yeah. That’s exactly it. But, if we don’t... then the others will be taking your place.” 

All four rooms were silent, the only sounds being all of the equipment that the four sick were hooked in to. Out of all the outcomes they were expecting, this was about the last one. They never thought they’d be having to choose between who would live and who would die. 

“Okay, so, which one of them is connected to Theo? Because I’ll kill them right now myself before I let anything happen to him. In fact, I’ll kill them all just for good measure.” 

“Hey, hey, hey!” Sam and Teagan both went into full panic mode. They both jumped from their seats, both of them wrapping a hand around one of Liam’s arms as they sat him back down. 

“No one is killing anyone. We’ll figure this out. There has to be another way.” 

Liam’s eyes had turned yellow and he was starting to growl, his clawed hands digging into the side of the bed as Teagan and Sam kept his arms pinned to his sides. 

“Let. Me. Go.” 

He ripped his arms from their grip and pushed them both to the side, Sam falling into a chair as Teagan went sailing across the room. He started to walk towards Tara, who was sitting in the corner with her eyes wide, scanning across the room for anyway out that didn’t include having to pass by Liam. He took a few quick steps and was in her face, gripping her throat as she started to choke. 

“It’s you, isn’t it? You have to die for me to get Theo back.” 

“LIAM.” 

At the sound of Theo’s voice, Liam loosened his grip. It wasn’t enough to let Tara go, but it was enough that oxygen could start flowing through her again. His head whipped around to look at him, his eyes still yellow and wild. He growled once, barring his teeth. 

“Liam, let her go. I’m not letting you sacrifice my sister for me.” 

“Theo,” Liam started, his voice low and rough, not at all the same voice that came from small, kind-hearted, Liam Dunbar. The werewolf side of Liam had fully taken control. “I’m not losing you.” His hand went back to choking Tara, her face quickly turning purple as she clawed at Liam’s hands in an attempt to break free from his grasp. Theo’s face grew panicked as his eyes went back and forth between the two. He closed them for a split second before taking a deep breath. 

“Liam, I need you to listen to me. Listen to my voice. Find me, Liam.” 

Liam roared loudly and Theo could see blood starting to make its way to the surface on Tara’s neck as Liam’s claws started to dig into her skin. He lowered his voice to a husky purr, wishing more than anything that he could get out of this bed and go to his side. 

“Liam, it’s me. It’s Theo. Remember... remember when I first told you I loved you? I was so fucking scared that you would punch me or hate me, but then you kissed me first. You kissed me! It was the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. Baby, find your way back. Stop listening to the werewolf side of you. Come back to me.” 

Liam suddenly dropped Tara. She immediately started gasping for air, her eyes filled with tears. Several members of the McCall pack and the French MoL had ran into the room upon hearing Liam roar and rushed to Tara’s side to help her up and get her out of the room as quickly as possible. Liam had fallen to his knees and was sitting silently on the floor in front of the chair that Tara had just been in. 

“Help me up, someone, come on!” 

Isaac made his way over to Theo, wrapping his arm around his shoulder as he helped the boy walk over to Liam, pulling his IV along with his free hand. He dropped to the ground as soon as he was close enough to touch Liam, taking his face into his hands as he tried to find his eyes. They had made their way back to the normal, icy blue but were still filled with fear. Liam was shaking all over; he was able to get rid of his werewolf form but wasn’t able to calm himself any further. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He kept repeating the words over and over, his body shaking and his eyes going out of focus. 

“Baby, look at me.” He held Liam’s face still in his hands, moving his face so it was only an inch away from Liam’s. “It’s ok: Tara is ok, I’m going to be ok. You have to calm down.” 

“But you’re going... you’re going to die.” 

“No, I’m not Dumbar. We’re going to figure out how to break this stupid fucking curse. I’m still going to be around to annoy you for the rest of your life. Now, breathe for me, ok?” 

Liam took a few shaky breaths and Theo let go of his face, wrapping his arms tightly around Liam’s shoulders as he buried his own face into his neck. Melissa had somehow managed to keep Dr. Geyer out of the room; he had heard the commotion and immediately came running but she successfully kept him distracted until Malia gave the go-ahead that Liam was no longer in his werewolf form. Dr. Geyer had made his way into the room now, watching the pair from the doorway. 

“Liam? Are you... are you ok?” 

Liam shook his head. Theo looked up, making eye contact with David. As much as he didn’t want to get a human involved in all of this, Liam needed his father. He quickly flashed his eyes yellow, a difficult task for the sick wolf, as David flinched and jumped back. 

“Theo! What was that? What’s happening?” 

Isaac and Malia both had a look on their faces that said they were going to kill Theo the second he had the chance, but Theo quickly shook his head at the two, motioning for David to come inside. 

“Dr. Geyer, there are a lot of things we need to tell you. It isn’t going to make sense and you’re probably going to think I’m crazy, but... you need to trust me. Can you do that?” 

“Theo, I trust you every day when I leave you alone with my only son. There’s nothing you could tell me that would make me think you were crazy.” 

“Well, we’ll see about that.” 

Liam fought with Theo at first, begging him to not say anything to his dad about the supernatural. Theo didn’t listen, telling Dr. Geyer everything... almost. He left out the part about Liam being a werewolf. He figured Liam could come out to his dad on his own terms, whenever he was ready. From the look on David’s face, though, Theo was pretty sure he already knew. 

“I knew something weird was happening in this town.” 

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say? You find out your kid is dating a were-coyote and all you have to say is that you knew something ‘weird’ was happening? I’m surprised, Dad. I figured there would be way more of a fight.” 

“Liam... I’ve seen people come into this ER torn to pieces by animal attacks that couldn’t have possibly been done by any animal that lives around here. I’ve seen people poisoned and not known the cause, because the toxin wasn’t on even our most extended tox screens. I went to Harvard Medical School and I’m still baffled every day by patients. Trust me when I say that werewolves existing is one of the more believable things I’ve heard this week.” 

The room was silent for a split second before Isaac burst out laughing. Liam tried to stifle it, but he was soon joining in with the laughter, his head in his hands. Theo joined next, the laughing causing a coughing fit to come on and soon the entire room was chuckling. 

“Our lives are so fucking weird,” Isaac muttered in between laughs, placing a hand onto Malia’s shoulder to keep himself upright. As they all calmed down, Dr. Geyer insisted that Theo get back into bed. Isaac rushed over to help but was quickly pushed away by Liam, who said he could do it himself. With the wolf back in bed and the room calm once more, they joined heads again to try and figure out what they were going to do to stop what was happening to the various members of the McCall pack.


	13. Chapter 13

Jackson recognized the nurse with the black hair as soon as she walked in. He knew he didn’t know her from the hospital but couldn’t quite place exactly where he knew her from. She was carrying a laptop and she recorded a few of Ethan’s vitals before turning to leave. 

“Your husband should be much better soon.” 

Jackson nodded and started to whisper a thanks before he stopped. There were red footprints neatly in a line making their way from the door of the room over to Ethan’s bed. The nurse’s white shoes were covered in blood and he noticed the hand holding the back of the computer was also bloodied. He knew the smell of the it; if he couldn’t see Ethan lying there with his own two eyes, he could have sworn that the blood belonged to his husband. His head quickly jerked around to the chair next to him, where Aiden had sat dutifully all day and night as he watched over his twin: it was empty. Jackson whipped his head back to the door but the nurse was already gone. He ran into the hallway but she had disappeared. The smell of Aiden’s blood was overwhelming once he got into the hallway. He ran to the room across the way, barging in without knocking. Chris, Melissa and Allison all sat around Scott, who was sleeping peacefully in his bed. 

“Jackson? Is something wrong?” 

All he could murmur was “Aiden” before he had taken off out of the room again. The three exchanged a look and the Argents quickly jumped up from their chairs. Chris motioned for Allison to take watch over Ethan as he followed Jackson down the hall. Jackson was taking turns almost quicker than Chris could keep up. He didn’t know how the smell of Aiden’s blood was everywhere, until he managed to look down at the baseboards: every several inches there was a dot of blood placed onto the wall. How no one had noticed was beyond him but he still followed the crimson trail. A few more turns were made and they stopped outside of a patient room that sat in a corner at the end of a hall. Jackson noticed there was no name on the door but still hesitated before stepping inside. The smell of blood was overpowering. 

“Jackson, wait.” 

Chris placed his hand on Jackson’s shoulder before he had the chance to open the door. 

“Let’s do this carefully. We don’t know what’s in there.” 

Jackson nodded nervously, swallowing hard. He slowly swung open the door and could see a figure lying on the bed in the dark. He took one step inside, Chris quickly following suit, stepping just to the right of Jackson and swinging his head behind the door. It was pitch black so Jackson wasn’t sure how he could tell if he saw anything or not but still felt reassurance when Chris nodded indicating that there wasn’t anyone behind the door. His hand made his way up the wall, feeling for the light switches. He almost hoped he wouldn’t be able to find them. He flicked them on and immediately his face went pale. Lying on the bed was Aiden, his throat slit from one ear to the other. His blood had completely saturated the bed and was slowly dripping onto the floor, pools forming on the white linoleum. Jackson turned and walked out of the room; he was going to be sick. One disadvantage of having an identical twin for a husband was that, even though Aiden was on the one lying dead in that bed, Jackson could only see Ethan’s face. 

Chris quickly joined Jackson out in the hallway, gripping his shoulders tightly with both of his hands. 

“Jackson, look at me. Go back to Ethan’s room. Go get one of the French agents and get them over here as soon as you can. I don’t want you anywhere near this. I’ll take care of it.” 

“Aiden was never reported as dead the first time,” Jackson said with no emotion, his eyes looking just left of Chris’s face into the room where the Steiner boy lay dead. “I don’t know if that helps anything.” 

“It does, Jackson, thank you. Now, go.” He twisted Jackson’s body around and pushed him down the hall, his mind racing. How someone could have gotten Aiden into this room, slit his throat and then left a pathway of blood for one of them to follow without anyone seeing was asinine. How was Beacon Hills Memorial a real medical establishment? It was only a few minutes before he saw Celestine and Henri quickly walking down the hall. He knew they wanted to run but didn’t want to alert any of the nursing staff. Knowing Aiden was never legally dead in Beacon County actually helped Chris out a lot. He could say he found the body by accident and let the authorities take over. Had Aiden been reported as dead a few years ago, Chris would have had to come up with a plan to get him out of the hospital without anyone seeing. They wouldn’t have been able to explain how a dead boy had come back and was dead once again. He and Henri quickly came up with a backstory, one that Celestine wasn’t going to like. She rolled her eyes and made the signs for ‘do it’ a split second before Henri hit her, knocking her out cold. The story was: Celestine and Aiden had split from the group to have some private time in an empty room. At some point, an unknown person came in and knocked Celestine out before, presumably, killing Aiden. Concerned with how long his friend had been gone, Henri enlisted Chris to help out and it was then that they found the two, Celestine still passed out and Aiden already dead. As soon as Celestine hit the floor the two took her body into the room, positioning her onto the floor next to the bed. They nodded silently to each other and Henri took off running as Chris yelled for help. 

Jackson made it back to Ethan’s room without even noticing where he was going. Somehow his body just knew how to get back to his husband. He had run into Henri in the hallway, pulling him into the doorway to explain the situation. Henri had taken off in a flash and he saw him leave with Celestine. He turned back into Ethan’s room and took a look at his husband, who was sleeping soundly in bed. Thank God nothing had happened to him. He was only in the room a few seconds before he noticed something was wrong: Allison wasn’t there. Although nothing had ever been said out loud, the entire group was in a silent agreement that none of the sick should ever be left alone. Annoyed, Jackson sat back down in the chair next to the bed, taking Ethan’s hand. 

“I’m so sorry, baby,” he whispered. He hated that he was going to have to be the one to tell him that his twin had died for the second time whenever he woke up. Ethan moved in his sleep, rolling over so that his entire body was facing Jackson’s, his eyes still shut firmly as he slept. As he turned, though, Jackson heard an odd sound, like the crinkling of paper. His brow furrowed, he scanned the bed, his eyes resting on a slip of paper placed just under the corner of Ethan’s pillow. He pulled it, quickly reading the entire thing; his face blanched and the paper fell to the floor. Chaos had ensued at this point, as the hospital and the McCall pack were finding out about the murder of Aiden. He could hear footsteps run down the hallway, growing louder and louder as they ended up at his door. He heard it swing open and could smell one of the Winchesters come in behind him. It was the tall one, Sam. 

“Jackson? Are you and Ethan ok?” 

Jackson couldn’t move but he pointed to the piece of paper that was on the floor. Sam picked it up, his eyes flying over the page, as he ran out of the room.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Ethan getting sick was a mistake. I brought Aiden back so your husband could be happy, Jackson, not so that he could take his brother’s place. I had meant to bind Aiden to their father, but something happened. I’m sorry. Ethan will be better soon.**_

The words written on the page had been typed, giving no clue as to the identity of the killer, but Jackson didn’t need to know: he already knew it was the black-haired nurse, the one covered in blood. The group agreed it had to be Morganna Burke, getting confirmation as they woke up Scott to describe the girl that Jackson had seen. He pointed towards the bedside table, mumbling ‘Shiloh.’ His phone was sitting there and Sam realized he wanted them to get ahold of Shiloh McCarthy, Morganna’s roommate. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t thought of that sooner: Shiloh was probably in danger. 

“Ok, we need to split up. Do any of you know where this Shiloh lives?” 

Everyone shook their head. Sam wasn’t surprised but was still slightly disappointed. 

“Promising, ok. One group, stay here and watch over everyone. Keep an ear to the ground for information about what’s happening with the Aiden situation. The second group: figure out how to find this Shiloh chick and let’s go get her.” 

Liam, Allison, Stiles, Jackson, Tara and Dean agreed to stay behind; the first four weren’t going to be moving from the sides of the sicks’ beds anyway. Sam grabbed Isaac, Teagan, Lydia and Laura to try and track down Shiloh. Malia agreed that she needed to help with the Aiden situation, taking a last glance at her friends as she hurried down the hall to find Chris and Henri. Lydia was already on the phone with Parrish before they even left the hospital; he worked at the sheriff’s department and should be able to help. If not, she had Stilinski’s number saved as well and he definitely would be able to tell them how to find her. 

It was only a matter of minutes before they had her address; she wasn’t that far away from the McCall house. The house was dark when they pulled up, no cars in the driveway or parked directly out front. Sam, Teagan and Isaac got out first; Sam told Lydia and Laura to stay in the car but the two rolled their eyes and immediately followed the others. Sam pointed at Isaac and Laura, indicating he wanted them to go towards the back of the house; he planned on staying up front with the other two girls. Isaac nodded and silently moved towards the back of the house, thankful he had another werewolf with him. Sam put his hand on the handle on the front door; it easily twisted open. He shot a glance to Teagan, but Lydia immediately spoke up. 

“Please, this is Beacon Hills. Hardly anyone locks their doors anymore.” 

Sam put his finger to his lips, urging Lydia to keep quiet. Again, she rolled her eyes as she followed him and Teagan into the house. It was ominously quiet. Sam noticed right away that he didn’t hear anything at all: no electrical hum from the fridge, no ticking from any of the clocks, absolutely nothing. He took the chance and flicked a light switch that was on the wall. Nothing. The room stayed dark. Sam looked back towards the open door, noticing that all of the neighbors around them still had their lights on. Either Shiloh and Morganna hadn’t paid their electric bill in a while or someone had cut the power. He noticed movement in the back of the kitchen and quickly pushed the two girls behind him before seeing the yellows of Isaac and Laura’s eyes. 

“Nothing?” Sam whispered, watching as Isaac shook his head back and forth. He pointed towards the staircase and the five of them slowly climbed to the second floor in a single-file line. The stairs creaked with the added weight. It was only the smallest noise but it sounded gargantuan in the silent house. Sam reached the second-floor landing first, motioning for Isaac to go ahead of him. The werewolf could easily see in the dark, Sam couldn’t, and the street lamps and light from the moon that was shining in to the first-floor windows was gone; the second floor had no windows in the small hallway, which lead to only two doors. The group split again: Laura guiding Sam and Lydia into the room on the right; Isaac and Teagan headed to the room on the left. They slid the doors open slowly, carefully listening for any sign of life on the other side. 

“Uh, guys? I don’t think we need to be so quiet.” 

Sam, Laura and Lydia rushed into the room that Isaac and Teagan had gone into. Teagan had flipped on a flashlight at this point, illuminating the room in a soft, yellowish glow. It was a girl’s bedroom and it had been completely torn apart. Drawers had been ripped from the dresser, clothes strewn across the room. The mirror on the vanity had been busted, a line of blood streaming down the shattered glass. The mattress had been flipped over, laying upside-down just underneath the window. Whatever had happened here, someone had put up a fight. 

“Maybe it was just a burglar?” 

Everyone looked at Isaac and even Sam had to roll his eyes at the comment. 

“Sure, Isaac. Just when we find out Shiloh lived with a psychotic necromancer roommate, a burglar conveniently broke into her house and trashed the place. It was Morganna, it had to be. She’s taken Shiloh. But why?” 

Suddenly they heard the door behind them slam; the window in front of them next, falling down into the windowsill with a hard crash. 

“Everyone saw that, right? The window closed on its own?” 

“Yes, Isaac, we all saw the window slam shut. None of us are blind.” 

Everyone had come together in the middle of the room, their backs all against one another as they formed a circle, trying to keep an eye on everything. There were a few more crashes and then silence. Laura slowly walked towards the door and put her hand on the handle, only to rip it back immediately. 

“Shit! It’s hot!” 

All five of them locked eyes, panic coming to their faces. 

“And everyone smells that, too, right? The burning?” 

“YES, ISAAC!” 

Sam ran over to the window, grabbing onto the window and giving it a hard pull: nothing. Isaac came over next, hoping his werewolf strength would do it: still nothing. 

“Oh, move.” 

Laura had picked up the chair that was lying next to the desk and tossed it at the window. It only bounced back, Laura ducking out of the way just in time. 

“Ok, so, bad news, the window doesn’t want to break anymore.” 

“I have worse news.” Isaac pointed at the door and they all noticed the thick, black smoke rolling in, quickly filling the room as they all began to choke. Flames licked just on the other side of the door, the red and gold sparks flying under the door frame and making their way up the wood. 

“What do we do? What do we do?!” 

“Shut up, Isaac, I’m thinking!” 

“Will you at least all get on the ground?! Didn’t your dumbasses learn anything about fire safety in elementary school?” 

Lydia couldn’t help but notice that Laura was definitely a Hale as she laid her body flat onto the ground. No one could belittle you while trying to save you at the same time with such grace. All five of them immediately dropped flat, kicking over piles of clothes and debris as they laid down. 

“I have a plan but I’m not sure how good it is,” Sam coughed between almost every word, the smoke rolling in thick now. Being on the floor helped a little, but they were all still getting a lung full of smoke with every breath they took. 

“I mean, I think we’ll try anything at this point,” Isaac sputtered, even he and Laura were having trouble breathing now. 

“Ok, you said it, not me. The fire is already starting to eat through the door. Once it’s destroyed enough that one of you wolves could break it, you could run through and find a way to put the fire out.” 

“That’s it? That’s your great plan? Sacrifice me or Laura?” 

“Listen, I said it wasn’t good. Besides, don’t you have supernatural healing?” 

“That doesn’t mean I want to set myself on fire!” 

“OH MY GOD. WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP?!” Laura’s voice boomed throughout the room, overtaking even the sound of the crackling flames slowly burning through the bedroom door. 

“What, you have a better idea, Hale?” 

“Actually, yeah, I do. While you two were busy bickering, you didn’t even notice that someone else had shown up, and that that someone came prepared.” 

At that exact moment, the sound of the window crashing was all they heard as glass rained down on them. Dean Winchester stood on the roof, just on the other side of the window, his arms covering his face as the glass broke apart. 

“COME ON!” he yelled, reaching his right hand into the window. Sam looked at Lydia and yelled ‘GO!’, the banshee standing up first and running towards Dean’s open hand. Teagan took off next, quickly followed by Laura, Isaac and lastly, Sam. He could feel his lungs burning as he took his first breath of fresh air, hands on his knees as he gulped it in. 

“That window was magically sealed shut. How’d you break it?” 

Dean only grinned as he held up his bloodied left hand. “I had a spell ready.” 

Sam shook his head and laughed once before heard the crash of the bedroom door finally caving in. 

“Uh, maybe we should get out of here?” 

“Sounds great to me!” Isaac jumped off of the roof first, landing gracefully on his feet below. Laura jumped next and the two motioned for Lydia and Teagan to follow, both of the girls landing gracefully in the arms of a werewolf. 

“Yeah, I’m not doing that,” Dean muttered, jumping down to the first-floor roof before he was low enough to jump to the ground on his own. Sam followed suit, wanting to save himself the embarrassment of having to jump into the arms of Isaac or Laura. Knowing his luck, it would have had to have been Isaac for some reason. 

“How did you know it was a trap?” Sam asked his brother as they all walked towards the street. Lydia was already on the phone with the fire department, saying they had just been driving by and noticed the house fire. They were already pooling into the two cars, ready to get away from the scene before the fire trucks could show up and find almost all of them covered in soot and reeking of fire. 

“Something just didn’t feel right. The way she had strategically placed Aiden in that hospital room and lead Jackson there by scent? I don’t know; I just didn’t think she would leave her own house unguarded. No one who plans like that would just... builds a castle without a sick moat. Filled with alligators.” 

Sam chuckled as he patted his brother on the shoulder. 

“Well, thanks, your gut was right. You saved us all. You’re our... knight in shining armor.” 

Dean beamed, taking his seat behind the wheel of Theo’s truck. He heard a knock at the window and saw Teagan and Laura standing there, motioning for him to unlock the door. He hit the button and they immediately both crawled in. 

“That car was already too full, we’re riding with you.” 

Teagan flashed a smile at Dean, batting her eyelashes in the most painfully obvious flirting attempt. Dean looked her up and down: she was definitely his type, with her curly hair and full lips; why not? He gave her a wink and put the truck in drive, making their way back to Beacon Hills Memorial just as the flashing lights of a firetruck made their way around the corner.


	15. Chapter 15

Theo had managed to open his eyes for the first time in hours. The room was dark except for the ever-glowing light streaming in the from the hallway. He reached his hand out to find Liam, only hitting bedsheets as he slid his hand back and forth. He turned his head, fully expecting to find the little wolf passed out in the chair next to him, curled into a ball the way he liked. But the chair was empty. Theo forced himself to sit up, his eyes adjusting to the dark as he looked around the room: no Liam. No... anyone. He knew there wasn’t reason to panic, he could be anywhere: he had to eat and go to the bathroom occasionally. He took a deep breath and tried to focus his hearing: the hospital floor was full of the sounds of various heartbeats but there was one that Theo knew he could pick out amongst the rest. He heard the strong thump of Scott’s heart, the flutter of Derek Hale’s, but couldn’t pick out the familiar beating of Liam. He reached for the remote that was attached to his bed and hit the call light, a red light flickering on above his doorway. A nurse walked in within a few seconds, her copper hair fluttering in wisps out of the braid that was wrapped over her shoulder. 

“Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Raeken?” 

“Yeah, uh... have you seen my boyfriend around, by chance? He’s about... this tall, blue eyes, bitchy eyebrows? Always looks like he is going to punch someone?” 

“Dr. Geyer’s kid?” 

“Yes!” Theo slurred at the nurse, his words starting to mix together as sleep began to overtake him once again. “That’s the one! He around here somewhere?” 

She shook her head. 

“I haven’t seen him in a while. He left about,” she clicked a button on the watch on her wrist, “an hour ago? With a group of people. I remember because I was leaving for lunch and had asked Nurse Burke if she wanted to join but she said she had to take them somewhere in the hospital. I just assumed they were headed to the cafeteria and needed a guide to get down there. Maybe they’re still in there eating; do you want me to send someone to check?” 

Theo shook his head, his eyes already drooping as the power to fight off sleep was leaving him. 

“No, no, it’s fine. He’ll come back for me.” 

He was still mumbling Liam’s name as his head hit the pillow, soft snores following within only a few seconds. 

He was asleep for maybe an hour when the lights turned on his room, bathing him in the glare of a blinding, fluorescent glow. 

“Why? WHY?” he grumbled, shielding his eyes. “I’m sick, baby, stop playing around.” 

“Yeah, I’m definitely not your baby.” 

The rough voice of Dean Winchester broke Theo out of his sleepy haze. He sat up as quickly as he could, using his elbows as a crutch to support his weight as he worked himself up. His eyes still squinting from the light he stared at Dean. He had so many questions running through his brain but nothing could make it out. He licked his lips in preparation to talk but was distracted by how dry his mouth was. 

“Uh... kid? Goddammit, I don’t remember what the fuck your name is. I just know your boyfriend is... that puppy dog bitch. Hey! Over here!” He snapped his fingers and motioned for Theo to find his eyes. “There you go, there he is. When’s the last time you saw him?” 

“What? Who?” Theo was staring into Dean’s eyes but wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking at, all he could think about was just how green his eyes were. 

“Fuck, you’re making me remember names. What the hell is that kid’s name? Hey, hey, stop looking at me like that. Last time someone looked at me like that, I got laid. And I’m fairly certain you’re taken... and still in high school.” 

“I’m 20,” Theo mumbled, his eyes falling from Dean’s eyes towards his lips. 

“Really? And still in high school? You that stupid?” 

“No! I died. Went straight to Hell. Surprisingly, they don’t teach algebra there.” 

Dean’s face softened. He knew all too well about the agony and tortures of Hell. He had been there a few times himself. He looked into Theo’s eyes, which were bloodshot and glazed over. If they didn’t figure out how to break the curse, this kid might be taking a return trip back. Theo’s hand fell off the bed, landing on Dean’s thigh, which he patted softly a few times. 

“Hey, you remind me of my boy... my boyfriend. He’s got beautiful eyes, too. Where’s Liam?” 

“LIAM! That’s the kid’s name. Haha—I knew I’d remember. When was the last time you saw him?” 

Theo saw his mouth moving but didn’t really understand any of the words... until he heard Liam’s name. He blinked a few times and opened his eyes wide, breathing deeply through his nose as he focused on Dean. Dean could already tell he was more aware of the situation; it was like hearing Liam’s name brought him out of some kind of haze. 

“Liam. Where’s Liam?” 

“Ok, kid, I’m the one asking that question. When did you see him last?” 

Theo stopped to the think about the last time he had actually seen Liam; it had been hours. The panic inside of him was growing but his body couldn’t physically keep up. He could feel the anxiety coursing through his veins yet he felt like he was moving in slow motion. His eyes flashed yellow for a split second, quickly going back to everyday grey as Theo’s body couldn’t handle any more of a shift than that. His hands grasped the bedsheets, tightening until his knuckles had started to turn white. 

“I don’t... I don’t know. It’s been a while. Is he ok? Did you hurt him? Where... Liam?!” 

“Ok, this is going nowhere. SAM!” Dean started to walk out of the room, being met halfway by Lydia, panic in her eyes.


	16. Chapter 16

“I’ve looked everywhere. There’s no sign of them. Stiles, Allison, Jackson, Liam, Tara—they're all just... gone.” 

The rest of the group quickly followed Lydia, piling into Theo’s room. 

“That true? No sign of any of them?” Dean asked, although he knew the answer from looking at their expressions. Panic and worry were written all over their faces. 

Everyone shook their heads. Sam knew Liam would never leave Theo’s side; the same went for Stiles and Derek. Something was seriously wrong. 

“Ok, what we’re not going to do is panic. Clearly something is wrong, we can all admit that, but, until we know what exactly is going on, let’s just try to keep our heads. Henri—I want you to get online and see if you can track their phones. I’m sure whoever took them was smart enough to make them leave them behind or toss them, but you never know. Everyone else, let’s start brainstorming. How can we find them? Where would someone have taken them?” 

Henri took out the door immediately. Isaac had started pacing back and forth, frantically chewing on his lips. Celestine shot out an arm and stopped him, signing for him to calm down. Lydia was typing on her phone, presumably asking for help from Parrish. 

“This might seem obvious, but I could try to catch their scent?” Everyone looked at Malia. They had all kind of forgotten that they had werewolves in their midst, including Isaac and Laura, who were werewolves themselves. Isaac felt like an idiot then remembered that Malia had been stuck in her coyote form for almost her entire life: she usually thought more like an animal than a human. 

“Yeah! I mean, it’s worth a try. Ok, uh, Malia you find something in there of Liam’s. Isaac, go next door and see if you can get something that belonged to Stiles. Laura, find something of Jackson’s and I’ll see if I can find something of Tara’s, although I don’t think she had a whole lot.” 

“I don’t need it. I know Tara’s scent.” 

Eyebrows raised, everyone started looking at each other silently as they wondered what exactly Laura meant. Isaac and Laura walked out of the room, each headed towards Derek and Ethan to see if they could pick up the scent of their significant others. Malia walked over to Theo and picked up his arm, slowly sniffing just above the skin. 

“Uh, Malia? That’s Theo. We need you to find Liam.” 

She shot a look at Dean, her nose wrinkled in disgust. 

“Yeah, no shit. But he has Liam’s scent all over him. God, I think he smells more like Liam than Liam would.” She slowly walked out of the room, turning her head back and forth as she sniffed the air. She turned left, slowly walking down the hallway as she breathed deeply. Isaac joined her before too long, holding a flannel Stiles had left behind. Malia jumped away, moving to the opposite end of the hall. 

“You just had to bring that, didn’t you? If I lose Liam’s scent because you distracted me with Stiles, I’ll kill you.” 

Isaac’s puppy dog eyes were wide with confusion. 

“Aren’t they... probably in the same place? Does it matter whose scent we follow?” 

Malia growled, flashing her blue eyes at Isaac. 

“We don’t know that for sure. Now, stand on the other side of the hallway, please.” 

She closed her eyes and inhaled, standing like that for a few seconds before she caught wind of Liam’s scent again. Isaac was already well ahead, stepping onto the elevator before realizing that would get him nowhere. He wouldn’t be able to tell what floor they got off on unless he opened the door on every single floor. He pushed the button for the doors to open and saw Malia standing on the other side. 

“We’ll lose them in the elevator. Come on, stairs.” 

She nodded and turned towards the staircase. The two locked eyes for a brief second. Malia pointed up and Isaac nodded, heading down the stairs as she ascended. He opened the door to the first floor, walking just outside the doors to the elevator. He took a deep breath, trying not to make eye contact with the couple that was waiting to get onto the elevator before he turned around: there was nothing there. He jumped down the last flight of stairs to the basement. He took another sniff of Stiles’s flannel before opening the door to remind himself what he was after. It was only a few seconds before he realized this was the spot; Stiles had definitely gotten off the elevator into the basement. He slowly walked down the hallway, the lights flickering above him. Obviously, the lab techs and pathologists that worked down here didn’t need functioning lights like the rest of the hospital. He felt his foot slide and he looked down; he had stepped right into a puddle of blood. 

“Well, that’s not a good sign,” he mumbled to himself. He hunched over so he was only a few inches from the blood, breathing it in. It wasn’t from Stiles but he recognized the scent: Jackson. 

“Yeah, definitely not good.” 

He continued to follow Stiles’s scent down the hallway until he was outside of a dark, metal door. 

**MORGUE**

“Come on,” he grumbled as he pushed the door open, the stench of the dead overpowering for his werewolf sense of smell. He covered his nose with the back of his hand, leaving just enough room to a tiny bit of air to come through. He caught Stiles’s scent quickly and couldn’t help noticing he could smell everyone else, too. Allison, Jackson, Liam and another scent that reminded him of Theo, which meant it was probably Tara. He could smell them throughout the entire room, right up to the back door. He opened the door and was greeted by the cool, night air hitting his face. A loading dock. Wherever his friends were now, it wasn’t in the morgue and it was going to take a miracle to figure out where they had gone. 

It didn’t take long for the rest of the werewolves to join Isaac down in the morgue. Laura made it first, her eyes panicked as she jerked her head in every direction, hoping that if she just looked around one more corner, she’d be able to find Tara. She held up her hand, which was covered in Jackson’s blood and Isaac just nodded. It wasn’t enough that they should be concerned but he was definitely wounded. Malia wandered in last, having spent most of her time fruitlessly meandering around the top floors of the hospital. The three made their way back to the second floor, ready to deliver the bad news to the Winchesters. 

Sam wasn’t the least bit surprised that they had been taken out of the hospital already. He already had his computer pulled up, maps of Beacon Hills and different city permits open on the different tabs of his web browser. Witches were cunning, but a lot of them forgot how much of a paper trail you could leave behind when plotting a heist. Morganna was good: nothing he could find out about her lead to anything ominous. She was born and raised in Beacon, but a good seven years older than the members of the McCall pack so he wasn’t surprised that none of them had heard of her. She had gone to nursing school straight out after graduating from Beacon High and was currently working at Beacon Memorial, which they obviously already knew. Her mom still lived in Beacon along with her younger sister, Phoebe, who was only 13. He wondered why there was such a large age gap between the girls but quickly moved on; he couldn’t waste time by focusing on silly details. One thing Morganna hadn’t thought about, though, was all of the apps on her phone which tracked her location. Most of the spots were ordinary: the hospital, Starbucks, home, the community college. One, though, stood out to Sam like a yellow flag in the middle of a football field: a location on the outskirts of town. He typed the coordinates into Google Maps and was even more confused; there wasn’t a whole lot there, a few derelict buildings and an open field. It was enough, though, to convince him that that was where they needed to head. 

Chris Argent was already gone, having left with Sheriff Stilinski to the sheriff’s department to discuss the finding of Aiden Steiner’s body, again. His keys, though, still sat in his jacket, which was hanging over a chair in Scott’s hospital room. Sam grabbed the keys, knowing the Honda Civic they had rented wasn’t going to fit everyone if they were lucky enough to find and save the rest of the pack. Malia, Laura and Isaac were ready, all three of them growling as Sam discussed a plan. It wasn’t much, but it was all they had. The four piled into Argent’s Tahoe; Dean, Teagan and Henri were close behind in the Civic. Sam said a silent prayer as they drove. If the rest of the pack wasn’t here, he had nothing else to go on. If they weren’t here, they may as well be dead. He didn’t say any of it out loud, but he could tell Laura was thinking the same thing as their eyes met in the rearview mirror.


	17. Chapter 17

It hadn’t taken much effort for Morganna Burke to get all of them into her custody. Jackson Whittemore was still part kanima and still had plenty of venom to supply. He was at Ethan’s bedside twenty-four hours a day and it only took a few minutes for Morganna to sneak in while he was asleep, use a spell to partially turn him and steal a bit of venom for herself. Even the smallest amount placed on someone’s skin would cause them to be paralyzed from the neck down for hours. One by one she cornered them, brushing her hand lightly onto the back of their necks and watching as they slowly collapsed. She placed them into a wheelchair, wheeling them down into the morgue and piling them into the back of a body transport van, smiling the entire time. No one suspected a thing from a nurse rolling a catatonic patient through the halls. She placed blindfolds over their eyes and duct tape over their mouths to avoid them trying to hatch up a plan on the way there before she took off towards the old dormitory. She knew better than to underestimate Allison Argent and Stiles Stilinski. 

The Cal State University Beacon Hills campus had been closed for decades, shutting down its doors after nearly fifty years to move to the bigger and brighter Camarillo. It probably had something to do with the number of students being mauled by werewolves, but the State Board of Education always said Camarillo was just a better location for student recruitment. Although most of the buildings had long since been torn down, a few still remained, gathering dust and graffiti like baseball cards. Morganna dragged them one by one into the basement of one of the dorms, a little pissed off that she hadn’t thought to hire some muscle to do this part for her. Shiloh was already in the basement, passed out cold, tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Five other chairs sat around her, which Morganna filled with the members of the McCall pack. When they were all in their places, she took the blindfolds off, smiling at each one as hatred seared in their eyes. Liam’s had turned bright yellow and she could tell his fangs had emerged from underneath the duct tape covering his mouth. She laughed. He was so tiny and so full of anger; it was honestly cute. She hated that she was going to have to kill him. She pulled up a chair at the edge of the room, digging her grimoire out of her bag. She flipped through the pages casually, ear-marking spells that looked like they would prove useful for her. It was going to be a night of torture and she didn’t want anyone to get bored. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see the kanima venom start to wear off, the werewolves of the group gathering their movements first. She could hear the muffles under Jackson’s gag and slowly made her way out of the chair, placing her hands on his thighs as she leaned over him. 

“You have something to say, Whittemore? Then say it with your chest.” 

She pulled the duct tape off with one swift motion, the sound of skin ripping as the adhesive stuck to his sweaty face. 

“You bitch, I just got lip fillers.” 

“Oooh, you’re a spicy little thing, aren’t you?” She made her way around the rest of the circle, pulling the duct tape off of each of their mouths. Allison did nothing, just stared with murder in her eyes. Stiles immediately had some choice words for Morganna and she almost considered putting the tape back over. As she had already guessed, Liam had his fangs barred, immediately jutting his head forward to try and bite the witch as soon as the tape had left his skin. Tara’s eyes narrowed. 

“Oh, honey, you’re not pretty enough to be this stupid.” 

Morganna lowered herself down to Tara’s eye level, her face only a few inches from hers. She planted a kiss on Tara’s lips before standing up, giggling. 

“That’s not what your girlfriend said to me. I can’t wait to see the look on Laura Hale’s face when she finds you. Definitely won’t be getting kissed on those pretty little lips again. You won’t be dead, but, trust me, you’re going to wish you were.” She took a few steps back, smirking as she turned back towards her chair near the door. She sat back down, pulling out her grimoire again and going back to the pages she had marked from before. 

She watched as the six struggled against their restraints, still unable to comprehend how one witch could have captured all of them with such ease. Shiloh was in tears as she asked why her roommate would do this, what she had done to deserve the treatment she was getting. Morganna slowly put down her book, got out of her chair and stepped forward, slapping Shiloh. Her cheek immediately turned beat red. Stiles and Allison turned towards each other, an entire conversation happening with their eyes as they tried to work on a way out. Liam and Jackson were both fuming; they were grenades whose pin had already been pulled. There would be no survivors once one of them exploded. Tara sat quietly but her eyes were filled with murder. She may have only been human, but she was ready to attack just as ferociously as the werewolves in the room. 

“All of the power in this room, just wasted,” Morganna was pacing around the group, her eyes flickering back and forth between each member. “We have a Beta wolf, a Kanima-wolf hybrid, a hunter and three relatively clever humans, yet you all sit here, bested by the work of one witch. It’s impressive, honestly, just how thick the lot of you are.” She laughed and pulled a knife out of her bag, sliding the blade underneath Jackson’s chin, forcing him to look her into the eyes. 

“How does it feel, Whittemore? Knowing you’ll never see your husband again? I killed his brother and next I’m going to kill his lover.” The blade sliced into his skin with only the shallowest of cuts, barely drawing blood. She moved on to the next person, Tara, threatening her in just the same fashion. 

“Poor little Tara Raeken. Left to freeze to death in Old Willow Creek by her own brother. A shame, really, that he got all the potential and you got none. With a pretty face like yours, you could have taken over the world.” She reared back, the knife blade shining in the streams of sunlight which had made their way through the windows in the basement. She brought it down, hard, stabbing into Tara’s arm, the blade sinking almost halfway into the soft muscle. She screamed as blood starting seeping through her shirt, working its way down all the way to her hands and dripping onto the concrete below. Morganna pulled the knife back out, licking the blade, her smile dotted with crimson. 

“And we have you, my stupid, stupid roommate. Introducing yourself to Scott McCall at the grocery store like you did? Oh, I couldn’t have written the plot line better; everyone loves a good meet-cute. Little did you know, you were drawing them right into my trap.” 

Shiloh shuddered as Morganna brought the knife to her face, Tara’s blood leaving a red trail over her pale skin. 

“Wait,” Stiles started, his eyebrows stitched in confusion, “I thought you put the spell on them at the wedding? That was before Shiloh met Scott.” 

The room fell silent, even Tara who was slowly beginning to bleed out from the wound on her arm. Shiloh started to clap slowly, the restraints holding her wrists falling to the floor. She stood up and began to clap faster, her applause echoing through the empty basement.


	18. Chapter 18

“Give it up for Morganna Burke, everyone! I knew you were killing it at your acting classes, but, damn, you even had me for a second there.” 

Morganna’s evil smirk dropped and her face morphed into one of panic. 

“I... I did exactly what you wanted me to, Shiloh. I helped you get them here. You’ll let my sister go, right? You promised... you promised you’d leave Phoebe alone.” 

“Oh, yes, alright, Phoebe will be just fine. I’m just sorry you won’t be.” 

She grabbed the knife from Morganna’s hand, thrusting it back towards her throat as she sliced it open with one quick movement. Morganna’s eyes widened as she wrapped her hands around her throat, falling to the floor within seconds. Allison had screamed without realizing it, her body fighting harder to get untied. Shiloh turned back towards the group, an evil grin forming just on the edges of her lips. 

“Phoebe’s dead too, but she didn’t need to know that.” 

Her face was covered in the blood of her now dead roommate. She wiped the knife across her jeans, cleaning the blade but leaving smears of dark over the front of her thighs. 

Stiles had grown even more pale than he already was, his face blanching as he realized Shiloh had been the witch all along. Shiloh, who he had trusted enough to leave alone with Derek, with Scott. 

“Why?” he whispered, his chest heaving as his breathing started to fade. “Why would you do this, Shiloh? What did any of us ever do to you?” 

She laughed loudly then, her eyes wild as she leaned into Stiles, the blood smeared on her face even more sinister with her canines out and knife in hand. 

“ _’Aw, I’m Stiles Stilinski. I’ve never hurt anyone. Why would you do this?’_ Shut up. For once in your dumb life, just shut up. Do you want to know what you’ve done? Hm? You killed my parents. You killed my parents and left me an orphan. I swear, everyone in the McCall pack just thinks the entire world revolves around them. Newsflash: the monsters you kill? They’re people, too. You bring in the British Men of Letters to “help” and twenty-two people die. Twenty-two! Innocent lives taken and worlds ripped apart because you just had to stick your noses in to business that doesn’t involve you.” 

She was fuming at his point, her cheeks red and her breathing ragged as she yelled just inches from Stiles’s face. 

“Your parents? I don’t even... who the fuck are your parents? I swear to God I don’t even know any other McCarthys in this town.” 

“I barely got to know them, either. It’s been so long; I think I only remember my mother’s face because of pictures. And it’s Miller. My real name is Shiloh Evangeline Miller. My parents were Gordon and Margaret.” 

Jackson started to choke at this point and everyone turned in his direction. HIs eyes were wide as he stared at Shiloh, his brows furrowed in confusion. The rest of the group sat silent; they had no idea what was going on or who Gordon and Margaret Miller were. 

“Oh! He’s finally getting it! He’s connecting the dots. Oh, bravo, Jackson. I knew you weren’t the brightest bulb in the box, but you got it first, you clever boy.” 

“I don’t get it. Is that... is that supposed to mean something to me? Who are Gordon and Margaret Miller?” Stiles was unbelievably frustrated. His boyfriend was in a hospital bed dying for what? Because a witch with a vendetta was bored? 

“They were my parents,” Jackson muttered, his voice scratchy. 

“WHAT?!” 

When he was just five years old, Jackson’s parents had told him of the adoption. Nothing much more was said of his biological parents, just that they died in a car accident and the Whittemores were lucky enough to be able to adopt their newborn baby. When he was ten, he had asked for their names, hoping to find something else out about his heritage, but had come up short. Gordon and Margaret Miller had led fairly quiet lives. He had always attributed it to living in the boring town of Beacon Hills the entire time. He had read once about another child, a girl, but the paperwork had always said she had been adopted by an out-of-town family. The state kept all records sealed until an adopted child is no longer a minor; by the time Shiloh would have been a legal adult, Jackson had lost interest in searching for his family. He never really developed the urge to find his sister. He was beginning to regret that decision. 

“No, no. I’ve read the accident report—sorry Jackson—there was no mention of a child in the car with them, just that Margaret had been pregnant.” 

“Because I wasn’t in the car, you dumb bitch. Jackson, baby, you really lucked out in not having to have old Maggie and Gordo as your parents. As soon as I was out of the womb, I spent my days with nannies and maids and basically anyone that could take care of me better than my own two parents. No, they were off to some fancy dinner party and had left their only child at home. And then got themselves into that accident and while you were adopted and lived a cozy life with the Whittemores, baby Jack, I was placed into the system. Do you know how many foster homes I lived in? Seven. Seven hellholes before I was old enough to be out on my own. One even had the bright idea to adopt me; could get more money from the state by adopting a teenager. I spent most of my teenage years locked in a basement, doesn’t that sound fun?” 

“Wait-- what does that have to do with us? I was a baby when Jackson’s parents died, it has nothing to do with me.” 

“IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH YOU!” 

Shiloh threw the knife at Stiles’s head. Even though Shiloh had wiped the blood off, the blade was still warm as it flew past, hitting the concrete wall behind him and landing with a clatter. 

“You were children, yes, but each and every one of you is going to pay for the sins of your parents. If you’ve read the accident report, Stiles, then tell me, what sheriff’s deputy made the decision to call the car wreck an ‘accident’? Oh, you don’t have to answer. We all know it was Noah Stilinski.” 

Stiles’s face blanched; he knew she was right. His dad had just joined the force a few years prior and was given a fairly easy task as one of his first cases on his own: an open-and-shut car accident. 

“And you, Tara. You probably don’t remember but our parents were great friends, oh yes. Ol’ Maggie just simply adored Johnathan Raeken. Actually, she adored him a little too much and poor Gordo found out. My old man worked in accounting, but on the side, he was laundering money for a group of hunters who needed a way to clean the cash they received from killing off innocent werewolves around the country. Care to take a guess as to what family of hunters this was, my dear Allison?” 

Allison didn’t say a word as Shiloh faced her, grabbing her chin with her bloodied hand. 

“Gerard and Angelica Argent. Only too willing to help an old friend by killing his young, pregnant wife. Only, oopsie, they hadn’t planned on Gordon being in the car with Margaret when it crashed. Collateral damage, I guess.” 

“And how exactly are you punishing the Argents by bringing Allison back? That kind of seems like you’re rewarding them.” 

Shiloh laughed and stepped away from Allison, who was trying to wipe the blood off of her chin by running her face against her shoulders. She stared at Allison, her head off-kilter as her eyes wandered up and down the girl. 

“That’s an excellent question, Mieczyslaw. You see, I’m going to keep this beauty around just long enough to give Chris Argent a taste of his old life. Let him enjoy that time with his daughter back. I’m going to keep her around long enough to suck the life out of Scott McCall. I’m going to let her watch as the love of her life slowly dies because I allowed her to live. And then? I’m sending her right back to Hell where she belongs.” 

She giggled and threw a wink at Allison, who spit onto the floor directly at Shiloh’s feet. She continued to work her way around the circle, landing in front of Liam, his eyes burning yellow and his claws digging crescent-shaped holes into the wooden chair he was tied to. 

“Liam Dunbar. Such an angry little wolf you are. You weren’t even born yet when your step-father decided to seal your fate. David Geyer, still only a resident, helped with the surgery to cut Jackson out of our poor, dead mother. He was also the one to call in the Whittemores. His friends David and Elaine were having trouble conceiving; they had been trying for years and only been met with failure. He wanted to do his friends a favor, bring them a child of their own. One thing he forgot, though, was his sister. No one wanted to adopt a 7-year-old. The good doctor Geyer could have convinced Dave and Elaine to take me along, not separate the poor, orphaned Miller children, but no. He handed that baby off to his friends to live a comfy life with two lawyers, while I was sent to my first foster home. Well, we shall see how Dr. Geyer likes it now. He's going to find out exactly how it feels to watch a child die. Do you think I should tell him as you're dying or maybe after you’re already gone that you’re a werewolf? Do you think Daddy would still love you the same then?” 

Liam howled, the noise vibrating the few windows in the basement, as Shiloh covered her ears. 

“What a set of lungs you have! Someone needs to tell that banshee to have a kid with a werewolf next time. That spawn could take out an entire city with one breath.” 

Stiles struggled harder in his chair at the mention of Lydia, spit flying from his mouth as he yelled a slew of choice words in the direction of Shiloh. 

“Leave her alone, Shiloh.” Jackson’s eyes had turned back to his everyday blue, but the venom from his fury still lingered. “Don’t you dare touch Lydia.” 

“I would never hurt her, never. Not if you didn’t want me to. Don’t you see, Jackson? This has all been for you! My sweet baby brother.” She kneeled in front of him, placing a hand on his thigh. A smile spread over her face as she looked into his eyes, moving her hand to his face as she gently stroked his cheek. “Your name was supposed to be Elijah. Elijah Cole Miller, named after our grandfather. I do think Jackson suites you better, though.” She stood up then, taking a few steps back from him. 

“Well... my grandfather. I suppose you aren’t even related to Eli Miller.” 

“What... what are you talking about? You just told me that I’m your brother. Why wouldn’t we have the same grandparents?” 

“Because Maggie Miller was a lying, cheating whore!” 

Even though Shiloh didn’t have a supernatural scream like Lydia or a werewolf howl like Liam, the lights flickering above the group started to shake, her screams of anguish strong enough that even her human voice was affecting their surroundings. 

“You see, Jackson, when I was investigating my past, spending my days in foster care trying to find out more about the accident, about how both of my parents were taken from me, I noticed a very peculiar timeline start to appear. In December of ‘93, Maggie Miller and Johnathan Raeken had started their affair, evidenced by constant phone calls going back and forth between the two. By April, Gordon had found out and started filing paperwork to divorce his wife. He also—unbeknownst to his Maggie, had a vasectomy. Didn’t want her to try and have another one of his spawn just to take even more of his money. Fast forward to October and, surprise, Maggie’s preggo.” 

Liam let out a growl, his claws digging into the chair even deeper as he realized what Shiloh had to be saying. 

“It’s all starting to come together, isn’t it, Dunbar? I always knew you were smarter than you let on. You really don’t need to dumb yourself down to get the boys to like you. But you’ve got it: Jackson, here? A Raeken, not a Miller. Half-brother to Tara and your precious Theo. So, surprise, Jack! Not only do you have a sister from your Miller side, but you gained a brother and sister from the Raeken side as well. I wouldn’t be too excited, though, neither of them is really worth much. Theo a lot less more by the end of the week.” 

Liam howled again, the ropes on his arms starting to cut into the skin as he pressed harder against the restraints. Blood began to pool and it became obvious that either the ropes were going to give or Liam’s arm was. If he had to lose his hands in the process of getting out, it was a price he was willing to pay. The rope started to fray as pressure was building and Shiloh took a step towards the door as she realized the wolf was actually breaking through. She rushed towards the stairs, grabbing the grimoire that everyone had thought belonged to Morganna and started rifling through the pages. She found the spell she wanted and started muttering in Latin, her eyes closed as she focused her power. Blood started to trickle from her nose as the spell took hold. Liam started to choke, his face turning purple as the tiny blood vessels in his face started to burst due to lack of oxygen. Tara was openly weeping, screaming for Shiloh to stop hurting Liam. 

“I’ll do anything you want, Shiloh, please! Leave Liam alone!” 

Shiloh just laughed; the spell stopped for a brief second as she did so, but she immediately started back in. Her plans for Dr. Geyer to watch his son die were just going to have to change to Dr. Geyer finding the lifeless body of his son, unable to save him even with his medical credentials. It was a lot more poetic if she was being honest with herself. 

“Shiloh! Stop! I don’t want you to hurt him!” At the sound of Jackson’s voice, Shiloh put her hand down. 

“You don’t even like this kid, Jack.” 

“Yeah, you’re right, I really don’t, but I still don’t want you to kill him.” 

“Fine,” Shiloh said, her lips pursed in frustration. “But if I’m not going to kill him, then someone else in this room is.” 

Jackson’s face blanched as Shiloh flipped through the pages of the grimoire. Much like a genie, one had to watch their wording when speaking to a witch; they could twist your words in any way that they liked. If Jackson had a problem with Shiloh killing Liam, then she was just going to have to find someone else to do it for her. She grinned as she found a promising spell, her eyes closing as she started to chant the archaic Latin. The lights started to flicker again and Allison felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck start to stand on end. The circle of chairs started to move as someone started fighting against their restraints. Allison could only see Stiles; his eyes were wide and his face was starting to morph into the panic one might have when seeing a vicious predator in the wild. She could hear the sound of rope tearing and an animal-like scream filled the room. It was a girl’s scream. Tara. Shiloh giggled and bounded across the room until she was in front of the chair that Tara was tied in. She cut the ropes off with her knife, mumbling words in Latin to the girl, her eyes on Liam, a wicked grin across her lips. Tara’s eyes had gone completely black and she stood up out of the chair slowly but all in one complete motion. 

“Oh, the wonders of magic. Before, Tara Raeken was just a pitiful little girl, begging for me to stop. Now, she’s a killing machine. I love the dark world. Let’s see. If I were Liam Dunbar, how would I choose to kill myself?” Her tongue clicked as she tapped the blade against her cheek, her eyes going back and forth as she thought. “You’re too stupid to think of a gun or pills, but you do have a flair for the dramatic. I’m leaning towards a hanging or maybe slit wrists. What’s going to be the most traumatic for David and Jenna to find?” She stopped pacing, a grin coming to her face as she wagged the knife in his direction. 

“Drowning. That’s the one. Tara, shall we?” 

She pointed to the large, industrial sink on the other side of the basement, her eyebrows raised as she nodded. Without a word or any emotion to her face, Tara walked over to the sink, shoving the stopper into the drain before turning both faucets on. The rush of water was loud, echoing off the cement walls in the basement. Shiloh skipped over to the sink, looking at the objects around it for something she could weigh Liam’s face down with. If it was going to look like a suicide, she couldn’t have Tara force his head underwater, there would be bruises everywhere. She grinned as she got an idea, going back and grabbing the rope that had once tied Tara down. She tied one end to the rusted, non-functioning washing machine in the corner, the other to the pipe directly underneath the sink. The rope rested taught over the basin; if one could shimmy themself under the rope and keep their face submerged, the rope could hold them underwater. The water was rising higher and higher and Stiles could feel his heart in his throat. He choked, his eyes widening as an idea came to mind. 

“Jackson, Liam! Howl! I need you to howl!” 

“Stilinski, I’m not--” 

“JUST DO IT.” 

Jackson and Liam both took a deep breath before howling loudly, shaking the very foundation that the building stood on. Stiles started to smile as the sounds filled the room. He knew something that hopefully Shiloh didn’t know: a wolf howls when it’s trying to signal its location to the rest of its pack. Stiles hoped and prayed that the rest of the pack was listening.


	19. Chapter 19

“Enough!” Shiloh yelled, a raise of her hand drawing the wolves to complete silence. “What? You think you’re going to howl for help? There’s nothing around here for miles, I made sure of that.” She turned back towards the sink, which was now overflowing with water and snapped her fingers. Tara immediately turned the faucets off, her eyes still black and lifeless. 

“Tara, my love, why don’t you go get our good friend, Liam?” 

Tara walked slowly towards Liam, her movements stiff and choppy. She kept her eyes forward at all times, not even recognizing Liam’s face or screams for her to wake up as she untied the boy and wrapped her hands around his shoulders, forcing his arms to his sides. Whatever spell Shiloh had put on her, Tara now had enough strength to keep a werewolf at bay. Liam struggled against Tara’s arms, screaming her name over and over as she lifted his body into the air, his feet kicking as he tried to get away. She set him down directly in front of the sink, pushing onto his back so that his body bent forward at a 90-degree angle. His face was hanging just above the water. He felt Tara’s hand on the back of his neck just before she forced his head under. She pushed him underneath rope that was hanging across the surface, shoving him forward so that the rope was just below his shoulder blades, making it impossible for him to stand back up or even give his body enough leverage to push his head high enough out of the water to breathe. His arms flailed back and forth as he continued to fight. Shiloh giggled and clapped her hands excitingly. She was thoroughly enjoying watching the little wolf struggle so hard and wasting so much effort for so little reward. 

“I’m a little disappointed I didn’t link Tara to you, Liam. We could have all watched as Theo realized he was going to have to live without the love of his life and instead be stuck with the sister that he killed ten years ago. Say hi to him in Hell for me.” She started to walk away before turning around, whispering to Tara about not moving from her spot until the wolf was dead. She knew it was going to be a while for a werewolf to drown and she didn’t want to risk Liam somehow finding a way out. 

She walked past the other three tied to their chairs, smile covering her whole face. She spun around a few times as she danced to silent music, her feet tapping gracefully over the dusty concrete. She picked the grimoire up and started flipping through again. 

“Now, let’s see what we can do to get rid of Stilinski in a fun away, shall we?” Her fingers started to flip through the pages, the sounds of her skin running across the dry paper. 

“You’re not going to get away with this, Shiloh.” 

Her eyes flew up from the page, her teeth barred as she smiled the most devious grin. 

“Aren’t I, though? Who’s going to stop me? No one even knows you’re here.” 

The door behind Shiloh swung open, knocking her to the ground. A pair of claws reached out, picking Shiloh up off of the ground, the claws digging deep into her back as she screamed. Isaac Lahey’s yellow eyes came through the door, a grin on his face as he threw Shiloh into the concrete wall next to him. 

“You guys need some help?” 

The group collective sighed as the door filled with more of their friends. Malia, Teagan and Henri made it to the door first, followed quickly by Celestine, Laura and Sam. 

“Tara?” Laura frantically looked around the room, taking in the fresh stenches of various blood donors as she searched for the girl. Her eyes made it to the back of the room where she saw Tara, standing behind Liam, her hand pressed against his back as the boy drown. 

“TARA, NO!” Laura and Malia both ran across the room, Laura tackling Tara to the ground as Malia cut through the ropes with her claws. As soon as the rope went limp Liam stood up, taking in a deep breath as he took a few steps back, stumbling as he went. Malia grabbed the sides of his arms, steadying him as she pushed the wet hair out of his face, asking him over and over if he was ok. He nodded as he took gasping breaths, his eyes never leaving Malia’s face. Laura and Tara were still struggling. Malia heard Stiles yell that she was under a spell and Malia called out Laura’s name before throwing a bag of rock salt in her direction. Laura opened the bag quickly, spilling some into her hand before blowing it into Tara’s face. The girl screamed and covered her eyes before going limp. Laura caught her body and gently sat down, bringing Tara’s face closer to hers as she held her. 

“Tara? Tara, wake up!” She would see Tara’s eyes start to flutter. They were back to their normal grey. 

“I’m fine, Laura. I’m fine.” Laura’s body relaxed as she held her, brushing a kiss onto her forehead. Her head fell onto her shoulders and she made eye contact with Malia, nodding her head to let them all know Tara was ok. Malia ran over to Stiles, her claws extending from her finger nails. She grabbed the rope that was holding him and immediately howled; there was something on the rope that was painful for her werewolf self to grab. She motioned for one of the MoL agents to help her, Henri heading over quickly, pulling a knife from his belt to cut the rope. Malia launched himself onto Stiles as soon as he was free, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

“I was so worried. So worried about you.” Stiles said nothing but buried his face into Malia's neck, letting out a sigh of relief that this was finally over. Isaac went over to Allison and cut off her restraints, his gloved hands making it possible for him to touch the rope, as Celestine made her way over to Jackson. She grimaced as she passed the body of Morganna, her blood pooling around in her like a deep, black lake. Henri had taken a hold of the unconscious Shiloh, quickly tying her wrists and ankles together so that she wouldn’t go far once she was awake. Teagan had walked over to Liam, wrapping her coat around his shoulders as he shivered from the cold resting against his wet skin. 

“Are they... are they any better? Derek?” Stiles worriedly asked Laura, still leaning on Malia as she walked him to the door. Laura sadly shook her head. 

“No, Stiles. There haven’t been any changes, I’m sorry.” 

Celestine stopped her, taking her arm off of Jackson as she signed quickly, pointing at Jackson over and over as Laura looked at her in confusion. 

“Shit, I’m sorry. I was only thinking of my brother. You’re right,” she turned to Jackson, her face more relaxed as she put on a smile. “Ethan. Ethan is awake.” 

“Oh, thank God,” Jackson muttered, his head hanging in relief as he placed his forehead onto Celestine’s shoulder. Even though they knew Ethan would get better with Aiden’s death, Jackson was still afraid something would go wrong and he would lose his husband after less than a month of being married. When he said he would love him as long as they both should live, he had meant considerably longer than ten days. The group slowly made their way out of the basement, the supernatural of the group already starting to heal from their various wounds. Dean Winchester sat outside, his hand pressed against his skull as he leaned his head against the driver’s side window of their rented Honda Civic, eyes closed. For someone who was supposed to be a look-out, he wasn’t doing a very good job. 

“Dean, wake up!” Sam’s voice was harsh as he walked Liam over to the car, his hand resting on the wolf’s shoulder. He pushed him into the backseat and turned to see who else needed help. Isaac now had an unconscious Shiloh his arms, who they quickly set into the trunk of Chris Argent’s Tahoe. Jackson was limping along with the help of Celestine and Stiles. Laura had her arm wrapped around Tara’s shoulders; a tourniquet was tied at the top of her bicep to help stop the bleeding from her knife wound. Tara was moving slow, her head falling onto her chest every few seconds. She had lost a lot of blood. Sam walked over and stood on the other side of Tara, gently placing a hand onto her arm. He wasn’t doing much in terms of keeping her upright but would at least be there if she decided to pass out. They gently got her into the backseat of the Tahoe, Laura squeezing in after her. Jackson, Stiles and Celestine hopped in there too; Isaac was already in the driver’s seat ready to go. Allison and Malia walked towards the Civic, both of them piling into the backseat with Liam, who was beginning to smell a little like a wet dog. Teagan and Henri were last; they had stayed behind to make sure nothing was forgotten. The building wouldn’t be around much longer. Evidence had to be hidden and they wanted to make sure they got everything they needed. The two separated; Teagan deciding to squeeze herself into the backseat of the Civic, thankful that Allison and Malia were as small as they were as she added a fourth body to the backseat, while Henri piled into the Tahoe next to Isaac. Sam took one last look at the building as he got into the passenger seat next to Dean. Good riddance, he thought, just as the flames from the basement started to make their way up towards the first floor. The two cars took off, hoping to get far away from the scene of the crime before anyone had the chance to show up.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Heavy trigger warning: depictions of suicide**
> 
> If you choose not to read this chapter, I will give a brief summary at the beginning of Chapter 21 so you don't have to miss out on any plot points.
> 
> I know this has been a rough year for a lot of people. Do not suffer with your depression in silence. You are not alone and there is help out there for those who need it. If you or someone you love has considered suicidal thoughts or actions, please do not hesitate to reach out to the available help listed below. Your life matters. **_You_** matter.
> 
> United States Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255  
> Australia: 131114  
> Canada: 1-833-456-4566  
> United Kingdom: 08457909090   
> For a more extensive list, please visit www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines

“God, it smells so much like blood in here.” 

Jackson’s voice was filled with disgust as he covered his nose with his hand, squeezing his nostrils together with exaggerated force. 

“Ok, well, all of us have some form of injury, it’s not going to smell great in here. Open a window or something.” 

Stiles didn’t even open his eyes as he answered Jackson, his head leaning over onto Celestine’s shoulder. 

“I mean, some of it still smells fresh.” 

Stiles’s eyes whipped open. “Jesus, Jackson. Some of us are human, ok? We don’t have your supernatural ability to heal. Tara has a fucking hole in her arm. Just open a window and shut up.” 

The SUV was silent as Jackson slowly rolled the window down. The hum from the motor would have been comical had everyone not been tired, traumatized and just wanting a brief second of peace. Laura, who was sitting in the very back with Tara, sat up a little straighter, her face in the air as she breathed in the smells coming from the passengers of the car. 

“No, no... I smell it, too. It’s new blood.” 

Everyone started patting their own bodies, making sure they hadn’t somehow missed a wound. Everyone except for Tara, who was still leaning on Laura’s shoulder, passed out cold. Laura leaned forward to see if the smell was coming from the seat in front of her but slowly turned to her right when she realized it was emitting from Tara. Her eyes glanced up and down Tara’s body and suddenly her face went white. 

“No, no, no, no, Tara!” 

Isaac slammed on the breaks, making everyone fly forward in their seats. Laura was already grabbing for Tara’s arms; everyone realized at once that both of her sleeves were completely saturated with blood, not just on the part where she had been stabbed. Laura pulled up her sleeves to her forearms, only to reveal two long slices going from the wrist almost to the elbow on both of her arms. 

“NO! TARA!” 

She ripped at her shirt, making two strips of cloth to act as tourniquets. She was panicked as she looked down, trying to decide where to wrap to stop the bleeding when her entire arm was cut open. She wrapped the bandage around her entire arm tightly, hoping it would do something to stop the blood flow. She then started shaking Tara awake, her hands lightly smacking Tara’s pale, lifeless face as she muttered ‘no’ and ‘baby’ over and over through gasps and sobs. 

“Tara, please wake up, please wake up. ISAAC. MOVE THIS CAR NOW.” 

Everyone else in the car was in a panic: Isaac was already on the phone with Sam, yelling for help as he drove down the road entirely too fast after having been yelled at by Laura; Jackson had gone pale and slumped down into his seat; Stiles was holding Celestine, who had started to cry, silent tears falling down her face; Henri just sat with his eyes wide, staring at Laura as she attempted to wake up Tara. Tara’s eyes started to flutter open, tiny bits of grey shining through as she struggled to open her eyes. 

“Yes, Tara, open your eyes! Look at me! What happened? Why didn’t you say anything? Tara!” 

She leaned her body into the girl’s and immediately jumped back, grabbing her stomach with her left hand. She pulled it back to reveal a blood stain on her shirt and she reached down. A knife sat in Tara’s lap, the blood on it still wet and sticky; the tip had pricked Laura when she bent down. Laura picked it up and her eyes widened before her hands started to shake and the knife fell onto the floor with a clatter. Tara smiled slowly, her eyes already starting to close again from exhaustion. Between the stab wound on her arm and the cuts on her forearms, there was no way Isaac could have driven to the hospital fast enough to save her. She was too far gone. 

“Tell Theo,” she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’ll always love him.” The car had slowed down again, Isaac pulling over to the side of the road, his voice calm as he talked with Sam. Laura was still hyperventilating, running her hands over Tara’s face as she sobbed. Her face whipped around as she felt the car start to slow, her eyes wild with fury and tears. 

“What are you doing, Isaac?! Keep driving! We’re never going to make it to the hospital on time!” 

“Laura, stop,” Stiles muttered, gently placing a hand onto her shoulder, “it’s too late. Stop.” Laura let out a noise that was half scream, half howl. It shook the windows of the car. Everyone was silent as they watched the life finish draining from Tara Raeken. She was dead in a matter of minutes, a slight smile on her face; she had reached peace. The rest of the car knew that wasn’t going to be enough to calm Laura, who was still sobbing, rocking Tara’s body back and forth. Everyone was crying at this point, even Jackson, who took a hold of Celestine’s free hand, her other still gripping tightly to Stiles. 

“Why would she do this? Why?” Laura screamed, brushing her lips across Tara’s hair. 

“She... she told us, Laura. For Theo. She wasn’t willing to live if that meant Theo would die.” 

Laura let out a wild laugh, one mixed with sobs and a scream. “So, should I just... should I kill myself, too? To bring Derek back?” Her words were barely coherent as she spoke between sobs, her voice getting caught in her throat. 

“NO,” Stiles was firm as he gripped her shoulder tightly. “Don’t you ever think that. We will figure this out, Laura, I swear. We’re not going to lose Derek and I swear I’m not going to lose you either.” Laura’s breath was shaky and her shoulders were still hunched over, her face just inches away from Tara’s. She sat up and gently placed her palm on Tara’s cheek, rubbing her thumb lightly across her lips. 

“I’m so sorry, Tara. I’m so sorry.” 

Stiles let go of Celestine so he could reach over the seat, wrapping both of his arms around Laura and Tara, letting his head fall onto Laura’s shoulder. At first, she stiffened at his touch, but immediately relaxed. She let one of her hands free from Tara as she reached for Stiles’s head, gripping onto his hair as she sobbed. 

Isaac had his head against the steering wheel, tears streaming down his face. Henri was still staring into the backseat, his face white and mouth agape. Celestine had crumpled into Jackson, whose face was expressionless, his eyes wide and unblinking. The car sat like this for a while, in total silence except for the sobs of Laura. They heard a rap at the window and everybody jumped, surprised to see Sheriff Stilinski. His face was grim and Stiles immediately let go of Laura, jumping out of his seat and out the door, running around the back of the car to get to his dad. The sheriff immediately grabbed him in a hug, pressing his face against his shoulder as Stiles cried. 

“It’s ok, son, it’s ok.” 

Sam Winchester had called the sheriff after receiving the frantic call from Isaac and listening as they all watched Tara Raeken die. He knew he couldn’t have Dean turn the car around; adding six more people to the mix and the panic wasn’t going to help anyone. Argent was already at the Sheriff’s Department, giving his account of the death of Aiden Steiner over and over; it only took a few minutes for him to get Stilinski in the room and explain what was happening on the edge of town. Unlike Aiden, the death of Tara Raeken when she was eleven years old was public knowledge. They were going to have to get rid of her body without anybody finding out. Couldn’t exactly explain how a girl who died as a child was suddenly back as an adult—and dead again. Stilinski let Stiles cry for several minutes, simply holding his son and wishing beyond anything else he could take the pain away. His boy had been through so much in his short life, more than anyone should ever have to go through over the course of a century. Stiles finally slowed his tears, taking several deep breaths as he kept his head on his dad’s shoulder. 

“Dad?” The sheriff murmured in response. “What made you decide to marry Mom?” 

The sheriff let go of his son, his arms lowering from around the boy’s shoulders. 

“Are you... are you sure this is what you want to be talking about right now?” 

“Dad, it’s important.” 

The sheriff sighed and rubbed the back of his head, remembering when he first met Claudia Stilinski, then Claudia Gajos. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and he knew he didn’t want to ever spend a day not by her side. Losing her had been the hardest thing he ever had to go through, but he still cherished every second he got to be with her. 

“I just realized one day that... she was the most important thing in the world to me. And I didn’t want there to be a day in my life where she wasn't in it." 

Stiles’s eyes were sad but he still smiled. 

“Thanks, Dad. I needed that.” The sheriff nodded, even though his face still read that he was confused. He finally let go of his son, wiping away the stains of tears that ran down his face. 

“How bad is it in there?” he asked, not really needing an answer. 

“It’s... not great, Dad.” He nodding, sighing as he turned towards the Tahoe, realizing he finally had to come to do what Chris Argent tasked him to do. He opened the door, Jackson and Celestine sitting huddled together in the middle seat. He motioned for them to scoot over and he climbed into the SUV, his face falling again once he caught sight of the bloodied and lifeless Tara in the back, still wrapped in the arms of Laura Hale. He knew what he was walking into. He had been on the scene of suicides before, but it never got any easier, especially when the victims were so young, like Tara. 

“Laura? Laura?” his voice was smooth and low as he reached for the girl, gently placing a hand onto her shoulder. She flinched but let her shoulders fall immediately, turning her head to look at the sheriff. Her face was covered in blood, lines of skin showing through where her tears had fallen. Upon looking at the sheriff fresh tears welled into her eyes. 

“No, no, no, please. Don’t take her, please.” 

“Laura, it’s ok. Laura, I just want to see her.” He reached towards Tara, his arms wrapping underneath her knees. Laura was still sobbing but gently let go of her, helping the sheriff pull her body out of the backseat. He was cradling Tara as he got out of the Tahoe, her head resting against his chest. He motioned for Stiles to help him get her into the squad car. Gently laying her body into the backseat, the sheriff took one last look at her bloodied clothes before shutting the door. He grabbed his son in a hug again, kissing the top of his head. 

“Get back to the car and get to the hospital. Derek needs you.” 

Stiles nodded and walked somberly back to the Tahoe, climbing over the middle seat so he could be in the back with Laura. The sheriff came to the driver’s side window, talking quietly to Isaac, his hand gripping firmly onto the side of Isaac’s head and neck. Isaac nodded fervidly and held in his sobs, turning back towards the front of the car as he turned the key in the ignition. He took a deep breath and slowly took off down the road, wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt. The car was silent as they took off towards Beacon Hills Memorial, everyone silently hoping that it was finally over, that they were finally done losing the people they loved. Stiles was anxious to get back; he had something very important he had to talk with Derek about and he didn’t want to wait another minute to get back to his bedside. He wrapped his arms around Laura, stroking her hair as she cried, her body violently shaking as sobs racked through her. He didn’t try to say anything to her, wouldn’t even know where to begin. He knew Laura had only known Tara for a short amount of time but time really didn’t mean anything in terms of love. Whether it was one week, one year or a lifetime, love just showed up whenever it was ready, whether you liked it or not. 

He thought of Derek, who frankly scared the crap out of him when they first met, and wondered what had happened to make him realize that, yeah, this scary goth dude who could rip my throat out with my teeth? I love him and would do absolutely anything to protect him. He thought back to the night Boyd died. It had been at the hands of Derek, but only because he had been forced by a pack of rabid Alpha werewolves. He remembered seeing Derek sitting on the floor, completely broken over Boyd’s body and all he wanted was to make things right. To make Derek see it wasn’t his fault and things were going to be ok. That was the moment he knew. He might not have realized for another couple of years, but it was always in the back of his mind. Stiles had realized something else, too. As much as marriage terrified him, not having Derek Hale in his life terrified him more. He rested his chin on top of Laura’s head, wrapping his arms tighter around her to try and stop her shaking. There was something about Laura that just made him want to protect her, even though she definitely could beat him to a pulp. He smiled. It must be a Hale thing.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary of Chapter 20 for those who chose to skip it: Tara sacrificed herself by save Theo; Sheriff Stilinski convinces Stiles to say 'yes' to Derek's proposal

Theo was already alert and sitting up in bed by the time Liam got back to the hospital. Still soaking wet, he ran through the hospital doors, sprinting up the stairs towards Theo’s room. He started to cry when he saw Theo awake, the bruising on his arms fading and color finally come back to his face. He ran over to the bed and grabbed him, burying his face into neck. Theo gripped him tightly, not even noticing the cold material from his wet clothing. His fingers curled into the material of Liam’s shirt, trying to pull the boy closer than he already was. Liam unlocked his arms from around Theo and pulled back, immediately kissing Theo hard. Surprised, Theo took in a breath before his body relaxed and his hands found their way to Liam’s face. One hand on either side of his head, he kissed Liam deeper, desperation coming from both sides. 

“I was so worried... so worried about you.” 

“I told you, I’m going to be around to annoy you the rest of your life.” 

“You’re annoying me right now.” 

“Excellent, my plan is working.” 

Liam laughed and rested his forehead onto Theo’s, closing his eyes as he thought about everything that had happened to him that day. His body stiffened as he thought of Tara, realizing he was going to have to be the one to tell her brother. 

“Theo... there’s something you need to know.” 

“I already know, Liam. I thought at first that you guys must have broken the curse, that everyone was going to be ok. Then Melissa came in to check on me, bewildered that I was doing better when Scott and Derek still weren’t and... I knew. I knew something happened to her. What happened? Who did it?” 

“She killed herself, Theo.” Liam whispered, stumbling over the words as they fell from his mouth. He felt Theo’s hands grip onto his arms tighter, to the point that it was starting to hurt because he was squeezing so hard. 

“No. No, you... you got it wrong. She wouldn’t... she wouldn’t do that.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

Theo started to cry and Liam broke himself free from his grip, wrapping his arms again around his body, burying his face into his neck as he sobbed. He didn’t know what else to say. The two were still sitting there, Theo crying in Liam’s arms when the rest of the McCall pack and French agents made their way back to the hospital rooms of their friends. Stiles immediately ran to Derek; Allison was on her way to Scott. Everyone else, bloodied, bruised and in a daze, dispersed through the various rooms, talking amongst themselves about who needed help from Melissa, who needed a shower first and who was going to explain everything that had happened. After checking in on Ethan and finding him awake and even able to walk out of the room, the Whittemore-Steiners were the first to see Liam and Theo. Liam could smell them as soon as they walked into the room and slowly let go of his boyfriend, keeping a hand on his shoulder as he turned to look at Jackson and Ethan. Theo’s eyes were rimmed red but he pulled up his sheet and wiped his face, attempting to look a little more put together for his visitors. 

“Did you tell him yet?” Jackson asked, still avoiding eye contact with Theo. He hadn’t even looked at him since he got into the room. 

“If you mean Tara, yes. If you mean... the other thing, no. I didn’t think it was my thing to tell.” 

“What... what other thing? Tell me now.” 

Theo had always hated secrets, at least, ones that were kept from him. His eyes darted back and forth between Jackson and Liam, his eyebrows raised as he waited on an answer. 

“Well? Is anyone going to fucking answer me?” 

“We’re related.” 

Theo and Ethan both had looks of shock plastered on their faces as they looked at Jackson. Theo’s eyes rolled to the ceiling, presumably as he tried to picture his family tree. He looked back at Jackson, his mouth turned in disgust. 

“So, like... we’re cousins or something? Big fucking deal.” 

“No, you idiot. We’re... brothers. Well, half-brothers.” 

“Excuse me? Pardon? What the fuck did you just say?” 

“You heard me, stop being stupid.” 

Ethan and Liam shared a glance; yeah, these two were definitely related. Snark aside, there wasn’t a whole lot else the two had in common. Tara and Theo had looked so much alike. Liam had even noticed, once being told of the relation, that Jackson and Shiloh looked a lot alike. They had the same eyes. Jackson and Theo? There was nothing really there; they both must have looked like their mothers. The more his eyes went back and forth between the two, though, the more he could see it. They had the same, strong jawlines, which were both currently fused shut. They both had flared nostrils as they stared at one another; one fuming because he didn’t believe a word out of the other’s mouth, the other fuming because he was Jackson Whittemore and that was what he did best. Theo turned to Liam, his eyes pleading with him to tell him something different than what Jackson had been saying. He really hoped it was all some kind of elaborate prank. 

“I’m sorry Theo, but... he’s telling the truth. Shiloh told us everything.” 

“How... how did this happen?” 

“Well, you see, Raeken, when my biological mom and your fuckface dad got together something magical happened. And when two adults love each other very much....” 

“Shut up.” Liam and Theo said simultaneously, making Ethan grin. Theo turned to Liam, a look of confusion still in his eyes. 

“Why would Shiloh know anything? Where is she? Is she ok?” 

Liam’s face turned into a grimace as he stole a glance at Jackson, who put both of his hands up in defeat. 

“You told me to shut up, Dunbar, this is your job now.” 

Liam rubbed his hands on the front of his jeans, his palms sweaty. The air in the hospital was cold and he started to shiver from being in his wet clothes still. He took a deep breath and started to recount everything that had happened that day: to waking up in the basement, being threatened by Morganna, finding out Shiloh had been the witch the whole time, Morganna dying, to Shi’s attempt to drown him, the rest of the crew saving the day, the tragic death of Tara and right back to where he was standing now. 

“So, where is she now? Shiloh?” 

The question surprised Liam, even though it was an obvious one. He realized he had absolutely no idea. The last he remembered was Isaac carrying her out to the Tahoe and placing her in the trunk. 

“I... I’m not sure. I suppose... at the Sheriff’s department?” 

“Let me know once you figure it out, because I’m going to kill her.” 

“No one is killing anyone.” Sam Winchester had walked in at this point, standing in the doorway as not to interrupt anything happening. “She’s the only one who can tell us how to break the curse. Until she does, unfortunately, she lives.” 

Theo pushed his body back onto the pillows, letting out a deep sigh as he did so. He crossed his arms like a defiant toddler and Liam could have sworn he saw his bottom lip pout out. 

“No one here likes to do anything fun.” 

Liam’s eyes widened and he caught himself making eye contact with Ethan, who immediately bit his lips to keep from laughing out loud. It didn’t last long, though. Within a few seconds the entire room had erupted in laughter, even a chuckle coming from Sam. Liam walked over and pressed his lips against Theo’s temple, his hands resting on his left arm. 

“I promise, babe, once we get out of here, we can do whatever fun things you like.”


	22. Chapter 22

Rowena MacLeod had met very few natural witches in her life, and every single one had come from a family whose history was thick with witchcraft. Shiloh Miller, however, was a peculiar case. While all her magic had been learned, it had come almost second nature to her; she probably hadn’t even realized, just thought that maybe learning magic was easy, but Rowena could sense it on her: this girl had something special in her blood. 

“So, what is it, dearie? Are ye part fairie? Or maybe have a little banshee in yer bloodline. What do you think? Have a little shtriga in there, do ye?” 

“Gorgon,” Shiloh muttered. Rowena had put a binding spell on the girl to keep her from doing any magic, but it also stole most of the energy from her, her eyes drooping and her shoulders falling. 

“My great-grandmother times six lived on the Gulf of Argolis. She had a child with a gorgon.” 

Rowena’s eyes lit up and she clapped her hands in excitement. A grin formed over her lips as she circled around Shiloh. 

“A gorgon, ye say? Oh, that’s very exciting. Ye don’t mind if I just....” She reached her hand out and pulled a few strands of hair from Shiloh’s head, humming as she walked over to her work bench and placed them into a small, glass jar. 

“Now, normally I wouldn’t care about a wee bit of necromancy, but ye see, ye decided to meddle with the Winchesters. Never meddle with the Winchesters, it never turns out the way ye want it to. I’ve figured out which binding spell ye used; very clever to bind them to another life force. What I’ve yet to figure out, though, is how you raised them from the dead. A binding spell is one thing, but ye need a different kind of power to bring them back like ye did. So, who helped ye? What demon did ye bargain with?” 

A slow grin spread over Shiloh’s face and she carefully lifted her head off of her chest. It felt like it weighed forty pounds and it took every ounce of effort she had to bring her eyes forward. She locked eyes with Rowena, barring her teeth slowly, turning her grin even more maniacal. Her voice was low and throaty as she hummed. 

_“Well I am Death, none can excel  
I’ll open the door to heaven or hell   
Oh, Death   
My name is Death and the end is here.” _

Rowena took a step back. 

“Death? Ye made a deal with Death? Oh, ye sweet summer child. And what exactly did ye promise to give Death in exchange for four mortal souls? It better have been worth it.” 

Shiloh spit out only two words before she passed out, her head falling to her chest with a dull thump. 

“Dean Winchester.” 

**_Six months prior_ **

Shiloh took a deep breath as she cradled the dagger in her hand. It was now or never. She pushed the tip of the dagger into her finger, piercing the skin easily as she tipped her hand over, letting the blood fall into the bowl. The movies always had it wrong: cutting the inside of the palm was painful and, with the amount of blood needed for most spells, not worth the effort. A simple prick of the finger was usually enough to produce the amount of blood to finish off an incantation. She closed her eyes and started to chant: _Te nunc invoco, mortem. Te in mea potestate defixi. Nunc et in aeternum!_

The air around her grew cold and she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She heard the sharp sound of a cane hitting the floor and a cold, slow voice spoke out. 

“You better have a very good reason for summoning me.” 

She opened her eyes. A man stood in front of her, his cheeks hollow and pale, his eyes black and eternal. He wore a black suit, the ends sharp and tailored perfectly. She didn’t know what she had been expecting when she summoned Death; perhaps more of a Grim Reaper type figure, but the man in front of her definitely wasn’t it. She swallowed hard. 

“Death. I’ve called you here to ask a favor.” 

“I don’t do favors, you stupid mortal. Now release me before I decide to smite you and every single person you’ve ever loved in your life.” His voice was slow but solid; every word was said with purpose. 

“I can give you Dean Winchester.” 

“What would I want with Dean Winchester?” His voice was nonchalant but Shiloh saw the glimmer in his eye as he tilted his head ever so slightly. A small grin formed over her face but she quickly pushed it back, keeping her mouth in a serious line. 

“I know you want him. The man who keeps escaping your grasp.” 

“And what exactly would you like in exchange?” 

Her eyes sparkled; she knew it was going to take a lot to convince Death, but she didn’t know it was going to be as easy as dropping the name of one lowly hunter, one that she knew she could easily bring to Beacon Hills if Death would just accept her offering. 

“There are four souls I would like returned to Earth.” 

Death clicked his teeth together, his head turning in disgust. 

“You know I can’t do that. There’s a balance in nature that must be abided.” 

“I’m well aware. And I’m willing to give you four souls in return.” 

His eyes met hers, the black pools engulfing her gaze. She could feel her heart in her throat, the gentle pulsing providing a metronome for her breathing. She lifted her chin and attempted to square her shoulders. If nothing else, she wasn’t going to have Death think her a fool. 

“You’re willing to give me four souls as an equal exchange, plus Dean Winchester?” 

“I wouldn’t have bothered to call you here if I knew it wasn’t a good deal.” 

Death stared at her, his cane tapping rhythmically on the floor. She could see the wheels turning in his head as he considered her deal. She knew it was a risk to summon Death; she was lucky he hadn’t killed her the second he entered the mortal realm, but she also knew she needed help if she was going to be successful in carrying out her plan. His cane suddenly stopped. The silence was much like Death’s eyes, deep and dark. Her breath sat in her lungs, afraid to escape for fear of destroying the carefully perched balance of power in the air. 

“Fine. Four souls for four souls and the Winchester.” Shiloh’s breath could finally come out, escaping with a loud whoosh of air. Still standing defiant, she asked Death another question. 

“Can I ask for one more favor?” 

Death’s eyes squinted. Shiloh was pushing her luck and she knew it. She continued to speak, though, already having pushed the limits. 

“Those souls I want... can you bring them back on a specific day?” 

He rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue. Mortals. Consistently known for their need of instant gratification, yet here was one asking for more time. 

“Fine. Give me their names and the day you wish for them to return. Then let me out of this insufferable summoning circle. And, if you attempt to summon me ever again, Shiloh Evangeline Miller, I will kill you on the spot.” 

She nodded quickly, giving Death the names and date. He nodded once and she rubbed the sigil off of the floor, Death disappearing with neither a sound nor a stir. She had half expected him to leave in a puff of black smoke. Her body fell to the floor in both relief and exhaustion. She had done it. She had made her deal with Death. 

**_Present day_ **

Rowena could still hear the words in the air as she stepped out of the room, shutting the heavy wooden door behind her. She wasn’t the least bit surprised that a Winchester brother had to be involved; it seemed like there always was, no matter the situation. Her thoughts flew through her head as she attempted to imagine what else Death could have asked for in exchange for four people to be brought back to life. If nothing else, Death would be faithful to the laws of nature: power could not be created or destroyed, only re-distributed. If he had willingly brought back four, he would want four others in return. Aiden Steiner and Tara Raeken were already gone, which meant Death still required two more souls. Rowena smiled as she walked away, a plan already forming in her mind. If Death wanted two more souls, that was exactly what Death was going to get.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Trigger warning: animal death** I'll mark the scene with an ** before and after!

“You’re sure this is going to work?” 

Allison Argent was nervous as she looked at Rowena, not fully wanting to put her trust into a witch. The Winchesters insisted that Rowena was here to help, but Allison knew better than to put faith in something she couldn’t see for herself. The witch nodded, wisps of her red hair bobbing up and down with the movement of her head. 

“Don’t ye worry, lass. It’s a simple enough binding spell. Instead of gaining yer life force from this lad here,” she pointed a slender hand towards Scott, “we’ll just get yer life force from something else. Namely this wee rabbit. I’ve named ‘im Fergus, after my son.” 

She held the cage to her face, grinning at the small, grey bunny who was curled into a ball in the corner. Allison didn’t like the idea of having to kill a rabbit in order for her to live; she really didn’t like having to kill a rabbit that the witch named after her own son, for some strange reason. She supposed it was better than having to kill Scott, though. She nodded sheepishly. 

“Excellent. Now let’s get started. Give me yer hand.” 

Allison held her hand out, her arm shaking slightly as it extended towards Rowena. The witch firmly grasped it; her tiny hands were a lot stronger than Allison had anticipated. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before starting the incantation. Allison was surprised at how simple the whole process was; she figured there needed to be more than just a few words in Latin. Within a few minutes, though, Rowena was done, a smile on her face as her eyes opened. 

“And that’s it! Easy enough, wouldn’t ye say? Now, if ye don’t mind.” 

**  
She opened the rabbit’s cage, reaching in and grabbing the animal with no hesitation. Allison had just enough time to look away before she heard a crack followed quickly by a thump as Rowena lay the lifeless bunny back into the cage. **  
She ran her hands over her chest, feeling the steady rhythm of her heart beating. She didn’t feel any different. 

“That... that’s it? Scott will be ok?” 

“He should be awake within the hour I’d say. Probably out of the hospital in a few days. Welcome back to the mortal realm, Allison Argent.” 

Rowena winked and turned to walk out of the room, confidently holding the cage containing a dead rabbit in it as she moved on to the next, on to Laura and Derek Hale. Allison’s breath was shaking as she ran back over to Scott’s side, taking his hand in hers. 

“Scott? I don’t know if you can hear me, but everything is going to be ok. We’re going to be ok.” 

She was still holding his hand when Isaac walked into the room, his eyes sad but hopeful. 

“It’s... it’s done, Isaac. I’m not going anywhere.” Tears had started to fill her eyes as she formed the last words of her sentence. Isaac only needed a few strides to be at her side. She stood up from her chair and he grabbed her, burying his face into her dark hair as she wrapped her arms around him. 

“I’m never leaving you again, Isaac, I promise.” 

He kissed the top of her head, not saying a word but gripping her tighter. The two stood in silence, unable to process or believe exactly what was happening. Allison had died. She had been gone for three years and now, like a miracle, she was back for good. Isaac had rarely been given the things he deserved in life; for all the good he had done the universe had not been kind in return. He knew that one day the other shoe would drop; the feeling he had now of getting Allison back would only be met with an equally powerful feeling of dread as the balance of nature took hold. Maybe, though, this was the balance for the grief he felt when she had died; the agony he went through the months after he watched the girl he loved get stabbed in the heart and die in the arms of another. Either way, Isaac Lahey wasn’t going to take advantage of it. He was going to appreciate every single moment that he would get with Allison Argent, even the ones that seemed too mundane to matter. 

It was only in the next room over that Rowena was repeating the binding spell, this time holding the hand of Laura Hale. Unlike with Allison, however, there was no rabbit. Stiles asked over and over exactly what life force the witch was binding Laura to, but was never given a clear answer. 

“Don’t ye worry yer little head about it. The Winchesters and I have gotten everything sorted.” 

“Yeah, ok, but you can understand why that’s not a very compelling statement for me, right?” 

Rowena snapped her fingers and Stiles’s body forced itself into the chair beneath him, his legs suddenly giving out. His mouth continued moving but no words could escape as he sat, dumbfounded. 

“I said, don’t ye worry about it. Now, be quiet so I can get on with the spell.” 

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, muttering something about ‘humans’ before gripping Laura’s hand tighter as she started her incantation. Much like Allison, Laura didn’t feel any different once it was over. Stiles strained in his chair to look at Derek, hoping he would wake up now that his life force wasn’t being drained by Laura. He had been asleep since they had been brought back from Shiloh’s lair. Even Scott had managed to open his eyes and mutter a few words to Allison, but not Derek. The doctor’s insisted he wasn’t in a coma but couldn’t give Stiles an answer as to when he would wake up, either. Rowena started to walk out of the room when she heard a noise from Stiles, a squeak coming from his throat as his wide eyes looked in her direction. 

“Oh, yes, I almost forgot.” 

She snapped her fingers again and Stiles fell forward, landing face first onto the floor. Laura stifled a laugh and turned her head, covering her grin with her hand. He jumped up in one motion, brushing his hands over his jeans before making his way over to Derek’s bedside. He took his hand, not able to stop from noticing just how thin his fingers had gotten. Laura took one look at the desperation in Stiles’s face as he held her brother’s hand and knew it was time to leave. She gave Derek’s other hand a tight squeeze before turning and leaving the room, giving Stiles and Derek the alone time they deserved. Stiles waited until she was out of the room and the door had shut firmly behind her before he started to speak. 

“Derek? Derek, can you hear me? I need you to wake up. Please, just wake up.” 

He lowered his face and laid it on the bed, just inches away from where their two hands lay clasped together. It hadn’t been enough time, not nearly enough. He had just gotten Derek back a year ago, after spending a month wondering day in and out if Derek was even alive. Life really wasn’t fair. 

“The doctors always say that people in comas can still hear you. But they also said you weren’t in a coma, so, does that mean you can’t hear me? How do they define a ‘coma’ anyway? Is it just like... a time frame? You have to be asleep for so many hours before it counts? What if you’re just like... crazy, stupid tired and sleep for 20 hours? Is that a mini-coma? What about--” 

“If you don’t shut up, I’m going to put _you_ into a coma.” 

Stiles’s head lifted from the bed so quickly that he made himself light headed. He grabbed the railing on the bed firmly with his free hand, his eyes opening and closing rapidly as he tried to reach equilibrium. When his eyes finally came back into focus, he was greeted by the warm green of Derek Hale’s eyes. 

“Hey.” 

He was only able to get one word out of his mouth before he lost his breath again. It seemed like it had been ages since he had seen Derek’s eyes. They seemed even more brilliantly green now than they had before. Derek breathed out a single laugh, turning his head so he could see Stiles more clearly. 

“You know, I haven’t really had much going on lately,” another laugh from Derek, which caused Stiles to break a smile, “and it’s given me some time to think.” 

“Yeah? What’s that been like for you?” Derek Hale’s body might have been dying but his sass would never quit. Stiles let go of his hand, raising both of his palms up in defeat. 

“Ok, you know what? Never mind then. I won’t tell you the decision I’ve made in terms of marrying you. You can just lay there and wonder forever what my answer was. I’ll be over in this corner, just me and my big ol’ empty brain.” 

Derek chuckled again as he reached for Stiles’s hand, the other giving up quickly and sitting back down next to his bedside, ducking his face down so he could kiss Derek’s temple. His mouth still hovering a few inches from Derek’s face he whispered one word. 

“Yes.” 

Derek closed his eyes and smiled, his hand shakily crossing his body and gripping Stiles’s shoulder. He opened his eyes and turned his head, meeting Stiles’s gaze. His deep brown eyes had a sparkle to them as he leaned forward and every-so gently kissed him. 

“I knew you’d say yes.” Derek mumbled, his mouth still resting on Stiles’s. 

“Yeah, well, I didn’t,” he muttered, his eyes scanning over all of Derek’s face again, soaking in every line and freckle, memorizing even the most minute detail in his face. “But then I realized that, even if I don’t believe in the concept of marriage, it’s something you wanted. At the end of the day, if it makes you happy, I’m always going to be ready for it.” He brushed his lips against Derek’s again. “But I’m not changing my last name. Stiles Hale just doesn’t have the same ring to it.” 

“How about Derek Stilinski?” 

“Now that... that I like.” They kissed again when there was a knock at the door, followed by the sound of someone clearing out their throat. 

“I’m... I’m so sorry. I’m interrupting something important.” 

Stiles lifted his head up in surprise and looked at the door, almost falling over when he saw who was standing there. Well, sitting. Scott McCall didn’t quite have the strength yet to be walking on his own, but had woken up quickly after Rowena had broken the binding spell and immediately asked to see his best friend. Allison, of course, obliged, getting help from her father and Melissa to get Scott into a chair and into the next room. A stupid grin broke out over his face, his lopsided jaw looking even more crooked as his face suddenly became all teeth. 

“Did I walk into what I think I walked into?” 

Stiles’s face broke out into a wide smile, matching that of his best friend. He placed his hand on Derek’s shoulder, patting a little too loud and obnoxiously for the Hale’s liking, who promptly ripped the hand off of his shoulder. 

“Aw, babe, stop being so romantic. You’re embarrassing me.” He looked over at the McCalls before running his fingers through Derek’s hair, ruffling up the once in-place dark strands. “You are now looking at the future Mr. and Mr. Stilinski.” 

“Oh, finally.” Melissa breathed a sigh of relief as she pushed Scott further into the room, abandoning him near the door so she could embrace her other son. News spread throughout the hospital rooms quickly, everyone taking their turns stopping into Derek’s room to congratulate the two. Theo was long out of bed, moving slowly but still walking on his own as he came to visit. His eyes wandered to an oblivious Liam as he said his congrats to Stiles and Derek on their big moment. Stiles could see the color returning to Derek and finally felt like he could breathe. This was the best the wolf had looked in days. 

“I guess I was wrong.” 

Sheriff Stilinski’s voice was rough as he stood at the door but Stiles could see the happiness evident over his face. Exhaustion was written all over Noah Stilinski’s body, settling deep into the lines of his face. It had been a long day. But the happiness exuded through; he was unable to keep his mouth from smiling. 

“Wrong about what, Dad?” 

“You can be gay and dress the way you do.” 

Stiles’s mouth dropped in silent protest, his eyes flashing over to Derek who was almost in tears with laughter. 

“I mean, I’m bi, so, joke’s on you...” his voice trailed off with an air of uneasiness. He knew his attempt at a joke was a bad one, but he had been caught off guard. 

“Sure, Stiles, that’s where I went wrong.” 

He walked over and grabbed his son in a hug, murmuring over and over about how proud he was of the boy and how much Claudia would have loved to be here at this very moment, to see Stiles so happy. Stiles broke the embrace and quickly wiped his face, not wanting his father or newly acquired fiancé to see him in tears. 

“I think I’ve had just about enough excitement for one day, though. I’m headed home. Will I see you later, Stiles?” He already knew the answer, but still felt like he had to ask. 

“No, I don’t think you will.” Stiles looked at Derek and reached for his hand. The last thing the Sheriff saw before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him was Stiles slowly crawling into the hospital bed next to Derek, smiles plastered on both of their faces.


	24. Chapter 24

Shiloh woke up still shackled to the chair. Her brain was foggy as she tried to take in her surroundings, forgetting where she was and even what exactly had happened. The floral wallpaper covering the room was hideous; it was obvious it had been installed in about 1982 and no one had ever bothered to try and give the walls an update. The pictures hanging on the walls, disguising themselves as art, were all of various cottage scenes: a secret garden here, a woman hanging her laundry there, a little girl picking flowers over there. She turned her head and the pieces started to shift back into place in her mind as she noticed a long wooden table covered in various herbs, vials of blood and dust, pieces of crystals and the occasional cage holding a small rodent: all components of witchcraft. She had a flash of a red-headed witch, the memory of a binding spell. She closed her eyes and attempted to focus her power, mumbling one of the few incantations she had memorized over the years. Nothing happened and she realized the spell that was binding her powers must still be in effect. The room was empty except for herself and she wondered how long she had been out. She heard the sound of a lock clicking and the door in front of her slowly opened. The Winchester brothers made their way into the room, the small witch directly behind them. 

“The Wicked Witch of the West has decided to ride again, I see?” Dean Winchester smirked to himself, proud of how clever he thought he was being. God, he was so smug. Shiloh sneered at him, wishing beyond anything else that she could turn him into a frog right at this moment and squash his head into a bloody, pulpy mess. Rowena had already busied herself at the workbench. There was a massive bowl sitting in front of her that she had started to add ingredients to. It didn’t take long for Shiloh to figure out exactly what she was doing: it was the spell to summon Death. Shiloh felt her heart beat a little faster; it wasn’t time yet for her to cash in on her favor, but, if the Winchesters wanted to bring Death right here, she wasn’t going to complain. Would make her job just that much easier if Dean wanted to deliver himself to Death’s door. Shiloh heard the familiar words being chanted and felt the cold rush of air as Death appeared. 

“Why is it always the Winchesters?” 

His voice was slow and thick with annoyance. Shiloh wondered why he bothered to put up with the two hunter brothers and hadn’t just killed them already. She had only had to meet them a handful of times and was ready to stab a dagger through both of their hearts. 

“Hey Death, old buddy. We just wanted to bring you in because Shiloh here is ready to cash in her debt.” Dean nodded towards Shiloh, a grin starting to form in the corner of his mouth. 

“Are you idiots sure? Because, as far as I can tell, she’s given me three souls back and our deal specifically stated that I would be needing four. She’s one short and you’re wasting my time.” 

“I’m sure you had something very important going on, but you’re wrong. The fourth soul is right here in this room. Shiloh is going to be offering up her own as the last... donation you require.” 

“That wasn’t part of the deal!” Shiloh spat, her heartbeat speeding up slightly but her face still keeping its composure. 

“ _Au contrarie_ , Shiloh. From what Rowena told me, you promised him four souls; you never specified exactly which four souls you would be giving him.” 

A slow grin formed over Death’s face; in its very existence was the cold, dark embrace of Death’s happiness. Death himself rarely took joy in the reaping of human souls. He didn’t see himself as either good nor evil; he simply took what was rightfully his when the time came. He never asked for a human soul before its time was up, never begged for the righteous to give him something he didn’t deserve. Death’s very essence was one of neutrality. To bring joy to the face of Death was even more terrifying than staring him directly in the eyes, teasing your fate. 

“As much as I hate to admit this, Miss Miller, the Winchesters do bring up an interesting point.” 

“But what about Dean?! Are you going to take him too? I agreed to give you Dean Winchester and here he is. Aren’t you going to claim your prize?” 

Death looked Dean up and down, a slow sigh racking over his body. 

“I’m afraid that Dean is not my prize to be had. When the time is right, I will... delight in the reaping of his soul, but, for now, Dean Winchester lives.” 

The color drained from Shiloh’s face as she screamed, the wails quickly falling silent as Rowena cast a spell over the girl. Death took a step forward, pulling his scythe out of his suit jacket. The tool had a short, wooden handle and a curved, dark blade. The iron was dull, reflecting none of the warm glow that was cast around the room, but still burning in its own dark energy. He raised it above his head, bringing it down with a dull crack as it sliced through Shiloh’s torso. Her body immediately turned to grey ash, falling into a heap in the chair she once sat, scattering across the floor like tiny grains of black sand. Death straightened his body, cracking the bones in his neck as he twisted his head from shoulder to shoulder. 

“Her debt is paid,” was all he said, gently placing the scythe back into his suit jacket and once again resting his hands in front of his body, fingers interlaced. “Now, if you would so please, I have important business to get to that doesn’t involve being in some shotty hotel with the Winchesters.” 

“Uh, yeah, uh, thanks again, dude.” 

Death huffed a sigh of disgust as Sam removed the sigil, freeing him from the summoning circle. He disappeared instantly. Sam and Dean looked at each other, both of them with eyebrows raised as they let out a sigh of relief. Just one more job completed to add to their resume. 

They drove back to the hospital in silence, Rowena already on her way back to... whatever it was that Rowena did in her free time. The Winchesters didn’t ask and, frankly, didn’t need to know. 

“These kids, man... they have put up with a lot.” 

The Winchesters had only known the members of the McCall pack for a little over a year and had already seen them lose three people close to them, dozens more falling victim in their town to the supernatural beings that haunted over Beacon Hills. 

“I know. It’s amazing they’re all still alive.” 

Silence hung over the car as Sam thought about his words. They weren’t all still alive. Mason, Aiden and Tara had all been taken from them, their short lives ending before they had even started to begin. 

“Do you think we should... I don’t know... stay here? Help them out?” 

“I don’t know, Dean, there’s a lot country to cover. A lot of other places that need our help.” 

“I know, it just seems like....” Dean’s voice trailed off as he ran his fingers over the steering wheel. He would give just about anything to be driving his Baby right now. “It seems like Beacon Hills needs a little more help than most, you know what I mean?” 

Sam nodded, his eyes filled with concern as he looked over Dean. They knew better than anyone else just how hard it was to keep their heads above water in terms of keeping the supernatural at bay. It seemed like there was always something, someone, in danger. The fight never stopped. 

“I think they all realize that too, though, Dean. I mean, Scott McCall is what... 20 years old? He should be off at college, going to parties and drinking too much beer. Instead, he’s still in his hometown, guarding it from the things that go bump in the night. I don’t want to sound insensitive, but he made his choice. I don’t think he regrets it, either.” 

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” 

The silence fell again as they pulled into the parking lot for Beacon Memorial. Their bodies ached as they walked into the hospital, making their way to the second floor and the row of rooms that had been overtaken by the various members of the McCall pack. Even after losing so much, after being down in the count over and over again, Sam could still see the hope in each and every one of their eyes. It lingered from Theo Raeken to Liam Dunbar, as the two lay curled next to each other in a hospital bed, the former pressing his face into the latter’s hair, whispering promises of love. It was passed between Chris and Allison Argent, a father enjoying his second chance with his daughter. It was strong in Sheriff Stilinski, who shared a laugh with Melissa McCall, both enjoying the brief moment of happiness in finding their sons healthy and thriving. Even the French Men of Letters had the glint of promise of better things to come in their gazes, as they all sat in a circle, sharing stories and pizza. No, for all of the pain that the McCall pack had suffered, there was always going to be hope there, because there was always going to be love there. As much as he and Dean wanted to stick around, they both knew that the residents of Beacon Hills were going to be just fine all on their own.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am... so sorry for what I'm about to do. I hope you can all forgive me.

**_Four months later_ **

Stiles looked down at the ring on his hand, twirling the gold band back and forth around his finger. He looked up and looked down the aisle, a grin slowly forming on his face. He couldn’t believe they were all here, celebrating a marriage for the second time this year. They weren’t exactly a couple that anyone expected to be together, let alone be the first to get married out of the group. But if Stiles had learned anything in his young life, it was that love could be found in the most unexpected of places. He twirled his ring again once more before clasping his hands together. He didn’t want anyone to think he was nervous with the amount of fidgeting he was doing. Of course, if anyone here actually knew Stiles, they would know that nervousness was an everyday emotion for him. He took a quick breath and made eye contact with Lydia, throwing a wink in her direction. She was beaming; she was just as surprised as the rest of them that this day was here, but Stiles thought that she probably knew before anyone else that this couple was going to make it. She had a knack for picking up that kind of stuff. He looked across him and saw Allison, her face soft and a smile laced across it. If anyone could believe in true love, it was her. 

Stiles had been surprised when Chris had asked him to be a groomsman, but he figured Melissa had wanted both of her sons next to her on her big day. Stiles almost refused; it was emotionally too much for him to think about a wedding, but he didn’t want to upset Melissa. She was radiant as she walked down the aisle with Scott, her black hair framing her face in loose curls. Her dress was simple; this was both her and Chris’s second marriage and they hadn’t wanted any kind of fuss surrounding the pomp and circumstance of it all. Stiles started to lose focus as the officiant started to talk, the words almost identical to the ones he had heard on his own wedding day. No one had wanted to admit it back then, but it was clear after Shiloh’s curse ended that Derek was too far gone to be brought back. Scott had started showing signs of improvement immediately; he was out of the hospital within just a few days. Derek still required oxygen and could barely move on his own, his frame now thin and slight, which was vastly different than what he normally looked like. After a few weeks of engagement, and a lot of nagging from Derek, the two of them finally agreed that there wasn’t going to be a big extravagant wedding; there wasn’t going to be a wedding at all unless it could occur inside the walls of Beacon Hills Memorial. Stiles refused at first, but eventually gave in. The two were married in the hospital room that Derek had spent so much time in; the Sheriff, Laura, Scott, Melissa and Lydia had been the only other people present. Derek beamed as Stiles slipped the ring onto his finger and his smile remained on his face, even after he had fallen asleep. It was only three days later that he was gone. 

Stiles could still hear his own screams in his head, the echoing sounds of despair as he held Derek’s body, screaming for him to come back. He had just gotten him back a year ago; they had only had a year to truly be together and it was forever gone. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the warm sting of tears creeping into his vision. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his dad, a sad smile covering the Sheriff’s face. He knew how hard this whole ordeal had to be for Stiles and was proud that he still made it out to celebrate Melissa. He knew how much it would mean to her to have Stiles here. The rest of the ceremony was a blur to Stiles; he blacked out most of it in an effort to save himself the emotional distress. He remembered the officiant telling Chris to kiss his bride and he remembered the dull cheer from everyone in attendance. 

The reception was being held in the McCall’s backyard, the fall weather deciding to cooperate and give them an unusually warm night to celebrate in. Scott and Allison both gave a speech; Stiles wondered how things were going to go between them now that they were technically step-siblings. The thought was quickly brushed from his mind, however, when he happened to catch a glance that Allison threw towards Isaac Lahey, who had made his way back from France for the nuptials. Scott may always be her first love, but her heart definitely belonged to another werewolf now. Chris and Melissa had their first dance, Stiles barely watching as he tried to block the music from his brain. He couldn’t believe he was still here, still forcing himself to pretend everything was ok when it so clearly wasn’t. He felt a hand on his shoulder and almost jumped out of his skin. His eyes glanced upwards, meeting the warm gaze of Laura. 

“Dance with me?” He started to shake his head no, but stopped, standing up and taking Laura’s hand. 

“One dance, that’s it. I need to get out of here.” 

She just nodded and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, drawing him in close as they swayed to the music. 

“Derek would be proud of you, you know.” 

Stiles froze, his body unable to move at the sound of his husband’s name. He looked into Laura’s eyes, which were almost identical to her brother’s, and the breath caught in his throat. 

“Proud that I made it to a wedding? Yeah, that’s real courageous of me.” 

“No, you idiot, proud of you for still standing. For having the ability to get out and continue to live your life. He’d never want you cooped up, spending the rest of your life in mourning.” 

Stiles swallowed hard; his heart was stuck in his throat and he made the vain attempt at trying to force it back down. The two had already started dancing again, barely moving but still making an effort to keep from standing still. 

“He loved you more than anything, Stiles, don’t you ever forget that.” 

Stiles nodded quickly, tears in his eyes. There had been days where he didn’t want to go on. Days where he screamed that it should have been him, that Death should have taken him instead. Days where he was so angry at Derek for leaving him that he just wanted to break something, anything, to try and drown out the sound of his own heart breaking over and over again. Laura drew herself closer, resting her chin onto Stiles’s shoulder and leaning her head into his. 

“You know, you were kind of right, when you said that the witch had a sister who was a princess.” 

Stiles met Laura’s eyes, hers wide with wonder, his squinted in confusion. 

“What are you even talking about, Laura?” 

She sighed, her eyes rolling. Typical Hale response. 

“I know you remember. When the French Men of Letters said that our necromancer was more than likely a witch and you said something along the lines of ‘who was her sister? A princess!’ And you were right. Except instead of a sister, it was a brother, and instead of a princess, it was a queen.” 

A mischievous smile fell across her lips and it only took a second for Stiles to burst out laughing. 

“A brother who’s a queen. That’s good, Laura, you’re very funny.” 

“I try.” 

The two danced with a little more joy now, moving to the rhythm with smiles across their cheeks. Scott and Lydia flew by, both with smiles on their lips that lit up their whole face. Theo and Liam were huddled close together, the little wolf’s eyes closed with his head on Theo’s chest, a grin resting just on the corners of Theo’s lips as he ran his thumb back and forth across Liam’s back. Melissa had ditched her wedding date already, dancing with the Sheriff, her eyes lit up with the unbridled joy of a person deeply in love and enjoying every moment of her life. Between the days of screaming, the days of crying and the days of feeling nothing at all, Stiles had realized that things would be alright, that he was going to be ok. There was always going to be a Derek Hale-sized hole in his heart, but he was always going to have the people around him that were going to work hard to try and fill it back up again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it this far: thank you, thank you!! I appreciate you reading more than you could ever know. Part 3 is already in the works! See you soon :)


End file.
